Status: Corroborated — investigators recorded physical traces at the site; the Air Force listed the case as “unknown.” Several conventional explanations have been proposed.
Credit: U.S. Air Force, Project Blue Book (1964) · Licence: Public domain (U.S. government work) · Source
On the evening of April 24, 1964, Socorro police officer Lonnie Zamora was chasing a speeding car when he heard a roar and saw flame in the sky to the southwest. He turned off to investigate and later reported a shiny, egg- or O-shaped object sitting in a gully, and what looked like two figures in white coveralls beside it. He said the object gave off a roar and blue-orange flame and then rose and flew away.
Zamora radioed for help, and a New Mexico State Police sergeant named Chavez came to the scene. Officers noted burned brush and shallow depressions in the ground. An FBI agent who visited that evening recorded four rectangular depressions and burned grass clumps and described Zamora as a sober, conscientious officer. Air Force investigators from Project Blue Book later found no other witnesses to the object itself, no unusual radar returns, and no foreign material or radiation in soil samples.
Project Blue Book listed the case as “unknown.” Explanations that have been suggested include a mirage of the star Canopus, a lunar-lander test by White Sands Missile Range, and a prank by local college students; none has been proven.
Sources: Wikipedia: Lonnie Zamora incident · FBI Albuquerque report, May 8, 1964 (via The Black Vault)
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