April 24

The Socorro Incident

Zamora showing the site to two Air Force Investigators
via Alien Casebook 

April 24, 1964, 5:45 pm. Police Sergeant Lonnie Zamora is in pursuit of a speeder south of Socorro, New Mexico, when suddenly the placid sky to the southwest is disturbed by a roar and a pillar of flame. Zamora relinquishes the chase to investigate, suspecting a local dynamite shack may have exploded.

As the roar and flame diminished and disappeared, and Zamora neared the site, he spotted a shiny object 200 yards to the south, which he initially thought to be a white car, overturned in an accident. He headed his patrol car toward it, thinking to help.

He briefly saw two individuals in white coveralls next to the "car" one of whom seemed startled at Zamora's sudden arrival. Sergeant Zamora radioed his dispatcher that he would be out of his car checking a possible accident, pulled up, got out, and headed toward the object.

As he approached it he no longer saw the people in white coveralls, but heard "about two or three loud thumps, like someone…shutting a door or doors hard". At that point the loud roar and flame returned, though this time he was close enough to see that the flame issued from underneath the object. The roar was not like that of a jet engine, but started out low frequency, then increased in both pitch and volume. The flame was funnel shaped,  light blue with no smoke, but orangish at the bottom.  At this point the object began to slowly rise straight up.

The symbol on the object
via Ufology Society International

Zamora ran behind his car, none-the-less keeping his eyes on the object. He described it as oval in shape, smooth, with no windows or visible doors, and aluminum-white in color. There was a strange symbol, in red, on the thing, which he reproduced later. It rose to a height of 10 to 15 feet, moving rapidly away from him. It's speed increased and it diminished in the distance, now without the noise or flame.

Afterward, when other officers arrived, they inspected the site with Zamora, who they found in a state of near shock. They found the brush burning and four strange indentations in the soil like the marks of legs or supports where the thing had been sitting.

A number of witnesses  reported an egg shaped craft or a bluish column of flame at the same time in the same area, some within minutes of Zamora's experience, before any account of it became public knowledge. One witness reported not only the landing of the object, which he thought was a plane in trouble, but also saw Zamora's patrol car going up the hill toward it.

Some researchers have labeled the incident a hoax, which seems unlikely given the number and variety of witnesses, the (admittedly sparse) physical evidence, and the effect the close encounter had upon Zamora, who eventually left the police and took a job managing a gas station. In a report to the CIA, the program director of Project Bluebook stated that there was no doubt Zamora saw an object that had a profound effect on him. He also said of Zamora that there was no question of his reliability. "He is a serious police officer, a pillar of his church and a man well versed in recognizing airborne vehicles in his area."

Another theory held that it was a college prank by students who were hassled by Zamora. However, no one, even at this late date, has ever come forward with direct testimony. It always involves someone they knew, whose name they can't reveal, and who they didn't actually see doing anything. Nor do they know how their nameless acquaintances pulled it off.

There are, of course, always those who think of extraterrestrials, but there are also those who think it was some sort of experimental aircraft from one of the many government facilities or military bases in the area. Socorro is, after all, only some 700 miles from Area 51, and less than 200 from Roswell.