Document Archive

 Project Blue Book: Artesia, New Mexico — 16 January 1952 [15 Pages, 2.3MB]

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [2.28 MB]

The post Project Blue Book: Artesia, New Mexico — 16 January 1952 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post Project Blue Book: Artesia, New Mexico — 16 January 1952 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

The following UFO report was submitted to The Black Vault / TBV Investigations on December 19, 2017. 

Due to the age of the sighting, and lack of visual evidence, the case is added here without scrutiny, and used for reference and archival purposes.  

Witness Testimony

Large circular object. No rotation of object noted.

Moving very slowly at perhaps 10 mph.

Grayish in color with large highly illuminated enclosed circular deck on bottom of craft.

No nighttime running lights, no noise or other sounds noted. Very impressive.

One other witness who has since died.

Sighting lasted about 2 minutes at best.

Conclusion

Due to the amount of time that has elapsed since the event, and the lack of visual evidence, this case holds no “conclusion” and is archived here for reference or for possible future corroborating witness testimony.

The post UFO over Albuquerque, New Mexico – June 21, 1967 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO over Albuquerque, New Mexico – June 21, 1967 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

The following documents were collected by UFO Investigator Rob Mercer, and digitized to preserve their history.

These documents are part of the “From the Desks of Project Blue Book” Archive. 

Item numbers 65-70 and 115-122 are notes that are not included in the National Archives version.  Also included is the Socorro Mock up photo that that came with the collection.  

Project Blue Book Case File

 Socorro, New Mexico UFO Landing, 24 April 1964 [217 Pages, 88MB]

The above file is amazing UFO history, with never before seen, handwritten notes, on the Socorro case. Although many of these pages are found in the official Blue Book files of the National Archives, many of these notes, are not.

Additional Case Information

The following was written by BJ Booth, and is used here, with permission.  It offers a complete breakdown of the above case.

One of the most intriguing cases of a UFO sighting with physical trace evidence is that of the 1964 landing of an unknown craft witnessed by policeman Lonnie Zamora.

This event has been one of the mainstays of Ufology for over 40 years, and is definitely one of those cases which will not go away.

The Zamora incident began at 5:45 P.M. on April 24, 1964, in Socorro, New Mexico. Thirty-one year old policeman Lonnie Zamora was on patrol when he was passed by a car which was obviously speeding. Zamora took off in chase of the vehicle, but suddenly heard a loud roar in the distance, accompanied by a bluish, orange flame rising into the air.

He knew that there was a dynamite shack not too distant from him, and he thought at first that there had been an explosion there. Abandoning the chase for the speeder, he pointed his police car in the direction of the shack. He radioed his activities to the sheriff’s dispatcher.

As Zamora proceeded towards the rising smoke and flame, the aftermath of the explosion seemed to disappear and reappear because of the rising and dipping roads he traveled. The route he was on was a narrow gravel one and it wound around a small gully. As he approached the location of the shack, he noticed in the distance a shining object, anywhere from 100 to 200 yards away.

His first reaction to this sight was that it was an automobile which had overturned, and its gas tank had exploded. Upon a closer look, however, he discovered that it was an oval-shaped object without windows or doors. He stated that the object was about the same bulk of a medium-sized car.

He was drawn to an unusual red insignia on the side of the object, and then noticed two beings that he thought at first to be children, dressed in white overalls. He recalled that one of the “children” seemed to jump (become frightened), upon noticing him.

Regaining his composure, Zamora immediately radioed the sheriff’s office the details of the incident. He decided to get a closer look at the strange scene before him. He then heard a loud roar, and saw a bluish flame shoot out of the underside of the object. Afraid that it was going to explode, he fell to the ground to protect himself.

Next, he saw the object lift off the ground, and head southeast, flying in a straight line for about 10-15 miles. The legs that he had seen earlier had disappeared. Having intercepted Zamora’s earlier radio transmission, State Police Sergeant Sam Chavez arrived at the scene just after the craft disappeared into the sky.

The first military investigator on the scene, on April 25, was Army Captain Richard T. Holder, Up-Range Commander of White Sands Proving Grounds, along with an FBI agent, D. Arthur Byrnes, Jr., from the Albuquerque office. Major William Connor from Kirtland AFB and Sgt. David Moody, who was in the area on TDY, investigated for Air Force Project Blue Book on April 26. Dr. J. Allen Hynek arrived on April 28.

Hynek also conducted a follow-up investigation on August 15, 1964. Following is an excerpt from Capt. Holder’s report:

“Present when we arrived was Officer Zamora, Officer Melvin Katzlaff, [and]Bill Pyland, all of the Socorro Police Department, who assisted in making the measurements. When we had completed examination of the area, Mr. Byrnes, Officer Zamora, and I returned to the State Police Office [at]Socorro, then completed these reports. Upon arrival at the office location in the Socorro County Building, we were informed by Nep Lopez, Sheriff’s Office radio operator, that approximately three reports had been called in by telephone of a blue flame of light in the area… the dispatcher indicated that the times were roughly similar…”

Zamora told Capt. Holder and Major Connor, according to their notes:

“Noise was a roar, not a blast. Not like a jet. Changed from high frequency to low frequency and then stopped. Roar lasted possibly 10 seconds was going towards it at that time on the rough gravel road… At same time as roar, saw flame. Flame was under the object. Object was starting to go straight up slowly up… Flame was light blue and at bottom was sort of orange color… Thought, from roar, it might blow up…”

When the roar stopped, he heard a whining sound going from high tone to low tone, which lasted about a second. “Then,” he said, “there was complete silence… It appeared to go in [a]straight line and at same [constant]height, possibly 10 to 15 feet from ground, and it cleared the dynamite shack by about three feet… Object was traveling very fast. It seemed to rise up, and take off immediately across country.”

In 1968, Dr. James E. McDonald, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Arizona, said that he had learned of an alleged patch of “fused sand” at the Socorro landing site:

“A woman who is now a radiological chemist with the Public Health Service in Las Vegas was involved in some special analyses of materials collected at the Socorro site, and when she was there, the morning after [Apr. 25, 1964], she claims that there was a patch of melted and solidified sand right under the landing area. I have talked to her both by telephone and in person here in Tucson recently.”

She had analyzed plant fluids exuded from the scorched greasewood and mesquite plants, and told McDonald, “There were a few organic materials they couldn’t identify,” but most of the sample was just sap. “Shortly after she finished her work,” she told him, “Air Force personnel came and took all her notes and materials and told her she wasn’t to talk about it anymore.”

Analysis reports of physical evidence at the site have never been released to the public.

Two additional witnesses, Paul Kies and Larry Kratzer of Dubuque, Iowa, submitted statements to Dr. Hynek on May 29, 1968. In May of 1978 Ralph C. DeGraw, an Iowa investigator, interviewed them. They were driving just southwest of Socorro at about 6:00 p.m. that day when they noticed something shiny and a cloud of smoke near the ground in the vicinity of the town.

Later they heard a newscast about Zamora’s sighting and the significance of what they had seen became apparent.

Kratzer said he watched as “a round, saucer or egg-shaped object ascended vertically from the black smoke… After climbing vertically out of the smoke, the object leveled off and moved in a southwest direction.”

He said the object was silvery and had a row of apparent portholes across the side and a “red Z” marking toward one end. At the time he thought it might have been an experimental vertical-lift aircraft. Kies saw only a shiny spot and the smoke.

An FBI report dated May 8, 1964, notes that Zamora has been personally known for about 5 years and is “well regarded as a sober, industrious, and conscientious officer and not given to fantasy.”

The report also confirms the scorched foliage and the imprints, noting that, “Each depression seemed to have been made by an object going into the earth at an angle from a center line [and each]pushed some earth to the far side.”

Two years after the sighting, Major Hector Quintanilla, Air Force Chief of Project Blue Book at the time of the sighting, confided to intelligence specialists in a classified CIA publication that the Socorro case remained “puzzling.” With the help of many other agencies, he had conducted an exhaustive check of military activities looking for an explanation, but none could be found.

The post From the Desks of Project Blue Book: Socorro, New Mexico UFO Landing, 24 April 1964 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post From the Desks of Project Blue Book: Socorro, New Mexico UFO Landing, 24 April 1964 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

The following documents were collected by UFO Investigator Rob Mercer, and digitized to preserve their history.

These documents are part of the “From the Desks of Project Blue Book” Archive. 

Document Archive

 White Sands, New Mexico, 3 November 1957

https://www.theblackvault.com/casefiles/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/whitesands.pdf

The post From the Desks of Project Blue Book: White Sands, New Mexico, 3 November 1957 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post From the Desks of Project Blue Book: White Sands, New Mexico, 3 November 1957 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Two boys ages 9 (Jose Padilla) and 7 (Remigio Baca) set out on a search to find a cow that was calving. After locating the cow, which was fine and nursing her healthy newborn, they sat down to a small lunch when they noticed smoke coming from a draw. They headed toward it, and as they topped a rise saw a gouge in the earth and circular object at the end of it. Reme said, “It was the color of the old pot my mother was always trying to shine up, a dull metallic color.” Moving closer, they found intense heat from the wreckage which had ignited the greasewood nearby.

They retreated from the heat to wait for it to diminish.

Around the periphery they picked up a piece of thin, shiny material which was folded up and lodged underneath a rock. It was reminiscent of the purported Roswell material, which had a memory. That is Reme said: When I freed it, it unfolded all by itself. I refolded it, and it spread itself out again.”

They worked their way back to the wreckage. As they approached they saw entities inside under stress. Jose said: “They were running back and forth looking desperate. They were like children. They didn’t have hair.” Frightened, they quickly left the scene and told Jose’s father about the crash. Two days later a state policeman friend and Jose’s dad went to the crash site. The crashed UAO was there without entities.

Subsequently, the military began to remove the wreckage, while Jose and Reme spied on them with binoculars. This took a number of weeks. At one time the site was unguarded for a short time. The two boys took advantage of this, and went inside the craft. There was a piece protruding from the inside wall, and the boys used a crowbar to break it loose. They hid the piece under the house by burying it. They did not tell Jose’s father. The military did ask the father if he knew about the missing piece which he did not.

The metal piece had been in Reme’s possession for many of the 70 years since, and a year ago Reme gave it to Jose who has kept it hidden at his home in San Antonio, NM. Two samplings of it were submitted to Frontier Analysis for analysis. The object is to see if there are any anomalies which could be related to an extraterrestrial craft. Anomalies would be an alloy composition unknown on earth and elements that have different isotopic ratios then their terrestrial counterparts.

Conclusions

• The two metal samples have identical compositions. They are aluminum primarily alloyed to copper and silicon. Small amounts of other elements are present.
  This composition is known and compares with cast aluminum in the 3XX.X series (possibilities: 301, 302, 308, 318, 319, 320, 328 322) and the 2XX.X series (possibilities: 208, 222, 238, 296).
• These alloys have a wide variety of uses. Some include: engine crankcases, gas and oil tanks, engine oil pans, typewriter frames, and engine parts.
• Isotopic ratios determined for nickel, copper and zinc compare to terrestrial values.
• Even though the isotopic ratios are terrestrial, an extraterrestrial source for the metals is not ruled out. Following are reasons that they are normal values.

1. The aliens may be time travelers. So if they are from Earth’s future, their craft are “Earth-made” and there would be no isotopic differences.
2. The aliens may have bases on Earth and construct their craft from materials found on Earth.
3. The physical processes involved in the formation of elements in other worldly solar systems may be exactly the same as in our solar system. So the isotopic ratios of the elements would be the same.
4. Finally, the metals could be from ‘our’ craft.

• The metal pieces were coated with environmental debris (dirt). Sample 1 had humate (organic soil component) with smaller amounts of minerals such as silicate and calcium carbonate (calcite) on its surface. Sample 2 also had typical dirt components on its surface, i.e. humate, calcium carbonate (calcite) and silicate mineral. In addition, there was a mineral resembling sanidine.
• The purposes of the metal pieces are unknown. Sample 1 is reminiscent of a fastener. The coarseness of a grooved surface on this piece indicates very fine machining was not required.

The Analysis

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [395.21 KB]

The post Analysis of Two Metallic Parts Purportedly from a Crashed Unidentified Aerial Object (San Antonio, New Mexico August 16, 1945) first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post Analysis of Two Metallic Parts Purportedly from a Crashed Unidentified Aerial Object (San Antonio, New Mexico August 16, 1945) appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Fragments were gathered from a purported crashed unidentified aerial craft in the Plains of San Augustine, which occurred the first week of July in 1947. One fragment found by Chuck Wade (Wade-1) was previously analyzed by this Laboratory.1 A second fragment also found by Wade, called “I-beam”, was submitted for analysis. It is designated “I-Beam” because of its similar appearance to one. The object is to determine if there are any anomalous properties of the sample that could be related to an extraterrestrial craft. Specifically, one such anomaly would be the presence of fragment elements that have different isotopic ratios than their terrestrial counterparts.

Conclusions

• The I-Beam appearing fragment is mostly composed of aluminum coated with very small amounts of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) corrosion and environmental debris. The environmental debris include a protein-type material (animal, insect, mold or bacteria derived), calcite (calcium carbonate) and unidentified oxidized organic material which could be humate derived.
• The analysis shows the fragment, excluding any environmental debris, is greater than 97% aluminum which appears to be alloyed with small amounts magnesium, silicon and possibly iron. This alloy is in the 6000 series classification by the International Alloy Designation System3. Specifically, 6060, 6061 or 6063 could be the aluminum grade. These, especially the most common 6061, have many uses: architectural and structural applications; automotive components; boats; aerospace; aircraft; etc. A search of the internet reveals many companies who manufacture I-Beams in these three aluminum grades, and they come in many sizes.
• The analytical testing of this fragment does not reveal an indication of an extraterrestrial origin. Isotopic analysis done on nickel, copper and gallium are consistent with terrestrial values for these elements.

The Analysis

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [805.46 KB]

The post Analysis of a Fragment “I-Beam” from a Purported Crash Site of an Unknown Airborne Craft on the Plains of San Augustin, New Mexico circa Early July 1947 (CMS Case File: 52614) first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post Analysis of a Fragment “I-Beam” from a Purported Crash Site of an Unknown Airborne Craft on the Plains of San Augustin, New Mexico circa Early July 1947 (CMS Case File: 52614) appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena

– NARCAP –

October 15, 2000

January, 1967
Night UP SW New Mexico 

Jimmie Moran, a passenger on a Lear Jet 23 en route to Las Vegas, NV from Houston, Hobby Airport, Texas was the first to sight the bright red light associated with a sharply defined object ahead of them at their 10 o’clock position in the dark sky. He was seated on the left-hand side of the passenger cabin. Flying at FL410 to the NW just beyond jetway J-86 which ended at El Paso, the pilot, Carl M., filed for a direct flight to Winslow (AZ) on a heading of 300 degrees. He was delivering the new aircraft to its owner. An unnamed FO was also on board and saw the UAP which kept pace with the jet off its left-hand side for 29 minutes. Their airspeed was 300 kts. (Mach 0.82). In the pilot’s own words, I told Jimmie and the other passengers in the back, that maybe it was a light on a weather balloon. A few minutes later my passengers called me again, saying the bright red light was moving, so I told them that the light was in a military flight training block, so it might be a military plane.The light had a red ray below the light towards the ground and about 2000 ft. below the first light, a second oval light appeared, then a third light, and then a fourth, said Capt. M. Each had a red ray of about 2000 ft. from one to the other. Then the lights retracted one at a time until there was one light shining bright red. Then it ran the lights down again, but at a 40 degree angle. And then retracted the lights the same way. Capt. M. then radioed Albuquerque Center to inquire if they showed any aircraft at their 9 to 10 o’clock position. They replied they did not have any transponder signal there.

At this moment the UAP’s light extinguished for 30 seconds and came back on again. Then Albuquerque Radar (AR) called me and said they had the object on their radar… 39 miles west of our aircraft and moving at the same heading. Next Albuquerque Radar contacted a National Airlines DC-8 then over Casa Grande, AZ heading for Houston and learned from its captain that . ..he had been watching the light and said it did everything the Captain on the Lear Jet said it was doing. AR asked the DC-8 captain if he would like to make a UFO report, and the captain said no. AR asked the captain for his name, and he told them it was none of their damn business. It was at this point that the frightfully close near miss occured. In the pilot’s own words, AR called me to tell me the object was closing in on me, and before they finished telling me, the vehicle was so close that the blips on the radar screen became one. [The captain’s sketch of his cockpit window outline shows the UAP filling at least 75 percent of the window’s forward area!] The red light was so bright that when I looked up from the instrument Panel and would look back at the panel my eyes were having trouble ajusting (sic) each time to the panel white lights. At this close formation the encounter lasted 29 minutes.. .. My passengers in the back were hollering at me to get them away from the object… After a few minutes the bright red light of the vehicle went out, but I could not get a good look at the vehicle, because my eyes couldn’t adjust to the darkness before the vehicle turned the bright light back on. Then the vehicle slowed down [meaning unclear]to the point that I pulled away from him.

The passengers were overjoyed when the light went behind the left engine… But that was short lived. The vehicle passed us up at a speed so that the red light was trailing the object like a comet for as much as 150 yards. It slowed down again, which allowed me to overtake the vehicle at Winslow. We both made a left turn over Winslow at 41,000 feet. The UAP remained with the jet to beyond Flagstaff (where the aircraft was now under Los Angeles Center control which, the captain learned, also had the UAP on their radar). The captain said, My passengers were still hollering and in a panic for me to get them away from the vehicle. The UAP finally accelerated to the west at a 30 degree climb angle when we were only fifteen minutes from landing at Las Vegas. No official inquiry was made of this high altitude encounter. (Pilot report form)

_____ October 27, 1967
0300L UP NE Jacksonville
(Atlantic Ocean)

This fascinating aerial encounter involved Charlie Little, pilot of a Piper-Twin Commanche PA-30 (N7942Y). He was multi-engine rated and a flight instructor. Two other commercially rated pilots, and a passenger were also on board. Having taken off from Opa-Locka, FL to Morristown, NJ, they were headed ENE at 8,000 feet altitude in uncontrolled airspace under an IFR flight plan but were in radio contact with Jacksonville ARTCC for safety reasons. Stars were visible in the dark sky.

Ground control helped them maintain a correct heading when their two VORs apparently displayed significantly large angular deviations toward the east. About half-way between Jacksonville and Charleston, SC over the ocean at least three of the occupants saw a light moving across the sky and interpreted it to be a commercial flight at high altitude bound for Miami. But the light began to descend and approach their airplane. The pilot radioed radar control to inquire if any other traffic was seen in their vicinity (now at their one o’clock position high and seemingly southbound). The answer was negative. Little turned his landing and taxi lights on. He said (later), As the light came closer and closer, it was very apparent that we were going to pass very close and that the aircraft was not making any move to avoid us. He then asked for permission to descend immediately… We may need all the way to the deck immediately. He received permission to do so even though permission was not legally required. Under the circumstances, he was probably trying to set an example of extra-safe procedures for the benefit of the other two pilots on board. Little then disengaged the autopilot, pulled the throttle back and pushed the wheel forward …trying to avoid a head-on collision. We descended to 6,500 feet but the lights came closer and closer. Then they saw not one but six, huge, round, bright, white lights in a (horizontal) row. A collision seemed imminent. Panicking, I yelled, ‘We can’t get away from him!’ The situation seemed hopeless; there was no way to avoid him. We were all going to die because the pilot in the other craft wasn’t paying attention. Little had to shield his eyes with his hands the lights were so intense. Suddenly, a soft green light was all over our cockpit. At the very instant of collision, …the craft made an unbanked 180 degree turn, remained ahead for a few seconds and then took off and disappeared like a flash bulb. At least two of the witnesses agreed that the huge object was a gray equilateral triangle, each side at least 200 feet long and twenty feet thick. Its outer edges were very smooth and sharply defined (with no rivets, doors, antennae, windows, etc.) while at its center there was a triangular-shaped opening or hole large enough to fly through. It flew with one side directly forward.

As a pilot, I did not believe in UFOs but we had just had a near mid-air collision with one! When Little told radar control what had just happened he was met with ridicule. Later he recalled, I became very angry and threw the microphone on the floor instead of hanging it on the clip… We all knew we had just seen a UFO but we didn’t know what to say. We were afraid that if we told anybody we would lose our pilot’s licenses. This was very important to us because we were all hoping to become commercial airline pilots. It could be the end of our careers. Investigator Smith also discovered that Little was told by radar control that a United B727 captain allegedly had just reported the same shaped object over Washington (about 535 miles away)! I could not locate any record of this other claimed sighting which isn’t surprising given the continuing attitude of derision shown toward air crew by authorities on the ground and the understandable reticence to report bizarre aerial sightings. `

One final word is appropriate. Is it possible that Jacksonville radar was actually tracking the UAP and not the aircraft when the several clock-wise deviating VOR events were taking place? It isn’t clear whether the aircraft had a transponder (they were relatively expensive at the time) so that ground radar might have had only a weak return from the aircraft’s skin paint. Indeed, broadband radar in the 1960s wasn’t particularly effective when it comes to a non-transponder equipped aircraft. The far larger radar skin paint return from the triangular object might have been significantly larger than that of the aircraft. If true, this would explain the progressive clockwise deviation of the ground radar’s track that also corresponded with the south-bound movement of the UAP before it apparently changed its heading to approach the aircraft. (Smith, W., A huge open triangular UFO, International UFO Reporter, Pp. 4-6, Sept./October 1984, Center for UFO Studies, Chicago, Illinois).

The post Two Dramatic Mid-Air UFO Near Misses In 1967 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post Two Dramatic Mid-Air UFO Near Misses In 1967 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

Note from The Black Vault: Playing off the popularity of the return of The X-Files in 2016, the CIA had created a few pages online showcasing their UFO documents, and even creating a, “How To Investigate a Flying Saucer” guide. This guide has been archived below for research purposes, in case the online page ever disappears or is taken offline.  It is not edited in any way.

Southbound on a lone desert highway, police officer Lonnie Zamora was in pursuit of a speeding car outside the town of Socorro, New Mexico, when he was startled by a loud roar! Seconds later, he saw a large flame rise from the ground and pierce the sky above a remote patch of desert southwest of the highway. Fearing a nearby dynamite shack might have exploded, Zamora let the speeding car go, turned right, and drove down a bumpy gravel road that ran alongside the shack.

Zamora’s cruiser clunked along the rocky road until he came upon a steep hill. Rising from behind the hill was a smokeless fire that glowed in a funnel of blue and orange tinted flames. The hill obscured the origin of the flames, so Zamora attempted to drive up it. His cruiser’s tires slipped and swayed on the loose gravel, but after three attempts, Zamora finally made it to the top.

A shiny object, the size of a sedan, sparkled in the late afternoon sunshine about 150-200 yards from where Zamora was perched on the hilltop. At first glance, he thought it was a car overturned in an arroyo (dry creek bed), but when he drove closer, it appeared to be aluminum in color, not chrome, and oval-shaped like a football.

Zamora drove toward the object, along the hill’s crest, for about 50 feet and then stopped the car. He radioed back to the sheriff’s office that he would be busy checking on a wreck “down in the arroyo,” and then he descended on foot down the hill toward the object.

Roooaaarrr! Zamora was startled again by a very loud rumble, not exactly like a blast but also not steady like a jet engine. It started at a low frequency, with the pitch slowly rising. The flame appeared to be coming from the underside of the object, glowing light blue on top and orange at the bottom. Zamora panicked, afraid the object was about to blow.

He ran to take cover but turned back to look at the object as he fled. He noticed a red symbol on the side, shaped like a point that was about 2 inches high and 2 inches wide. The object was smooth, a shiny white aluminum, with no visible windows or doors. There appeared to be two metal legs, slanted outward, supporting it.

Zamora sprinted to his car, hit his leg on the fender, and crashed to the ground. He got up, ran another 25 feet or so, and when he looked back again, he saw the object begin to rise.

It rose to the level of the car, then higher, about 20 to 25 feet in the air.

Zamora ran another 50 feet from his car, just over the edge of the hill, and ducked. Kneeling as close to the ground as he could, he covered his face with his arms for protection. Suddenly, the roar stopped. In the uneasy silence, Zamora lifted his head and looked.

The object sped away from him, toward the southwest, appearing to go in a straight line at about 10-15 feet off the ground. It cleared the eight foot tall dynamite shack by about three feet and then continued in a southwesterly direction, until it went over the high desert mountains and disappeared…

Hector Quintanilla, the last chief officer of the US Air Force’s famous UFO investigation program, Project BLUE BOOK, was in charge of the Zamora case. His team was convinced that Zamora was telling the truth, and despite an extremely thorough investigation, they were unable to locate the object or its origins. In an article for Studies in Intelligence called, “The Investigation of UFO’s,” Quintanilla says that the Zamora sighting is “the best-documented case on record.” It remains unsolved.

Project BLUE BOOK was based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. Between 1947 and 1969, the Air Force recorded 12,618 sightings of strange phenomena — 701 of which remain “unidentified” like the Zamora case. Although the CIA was not directly affiliated with Project BLUE BOOK, the Agency did play a large role in investigating UFOs in the late 1940s and early 1950s, which led to the creation of several studies, panels, and programs. Former CIA Chief Historian, Gerald K. Haines, wrote an in-depth article looking at the Agency’s role in studying the UFO phenomenon for Studies in Intelligence. In his article,“CIA’s Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90,” Haines says that “while the Agency’s concern over UFOs was substantial until the early 1950s, CIA has since paid only limited and peripheral attention to the phenomena.”

With over 20 years of investigations, from the late 1940s until Project BLUE BOOK’s termination in 1969, the CIA and USAF have learned a thing or two about how to investigate a UFO sighting. While most government officials and scientists now dismiss flying saucer reports as a quaint relic of the 1950s and 1960s, there’s still a lot that can be learned from the history and methodology of “flying saucer intelligence.”

10 Tips When Investigating a Flying Saucer:

1. Establish a Group To Investigate and Evaluate Sightings

Before December 1947, there was no specific organization tasked with the responsibility for investigating and evaluating UFO sightings. There were no standards on how to evaluate reports coming in, nor were there any measurable data points or results from controlled experiment for comparison against reported sightings.

To end the confusion, head of the Air Force Technical Service Command, General Nathan Twining, established Project SIGN (initially named Project SAUCER) in 1948 to collect, collate, evaluate, and distribute within the government all information relating to such sightings, on the premise that UFOs might be real (although not necessarily extraterrestrial) and of national security concern. Project SIGN eventually gave way to Project GRUDGE, which finally turned into Project BLUE BOOK in 1952.

2. Determine the Objectives of Your Investigation

The CIA’s concern over UFOs was substantial until the early 1950s because of the potential threat to national security from these unidentified flying objects. Most officials did not believe the sightings were extraterrestrial in origin; they were instead concerned the UFOs might be new Soviet weapons.

The Project BLUE BOOK team, according to Quintanilla, defined three main objectives for their investigations:

• To determine if UFO phenomena present a threat to the security of the US;
• To determine if UFO phenomena exhibit any technological advances which could be channeled into US research and development; and
• To explain or identify the stimuli which caused the observer to report a UFO.

Although BLUE BOOK, like previous investigative projects on the topic, did not rule out the possibility of extraterrestrial phenomena, their research and investigations focused primarily on national security implications, especially possible Soviet technological advancements.

3. Consult With Experts

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, various projects, panels, and other studies were led or sponsored by the US government to research the UFO phenomenon. This includes the CIA-sponsored 1953 Scientific Advisory Panel on Unidentified Flying Objects, also known as the “Robertson Panel.” It was named after the noted physicist H.P. Robertson from the California Institute of Technology, who helped put together the distinguished panel of nonmilitary scientists to study the UFO issue.

Project BLUE BOOK also frequently consulted with outside experts, including: astrophysicists, Federal Aviation officials, pilots, the US Weather Bureau, local weather stations, academics, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, NASA, Kodak (for photo analysis), and various laboratories (for physical specimens). Even the famous astronomer Carl Sagan took part in a panel to review Project BLUE BOOK’s findings in the mid-1960s. The report from that panel concluded that “no UFO case which represented technological or scientific advances outside of a terrestrial framework” had been found, but the committee did recommend that UFOs be studied intensively to settle the issue once and for all.

4. Create a Reporting System To Organize Incoming Cases

The US Air Force’s Air Technical Intelligence Center (ATIC) developed questionnaires to be used when taking reports of possible UFO sightings, which were used throughout the duration of Project BLUE BOOK. The forms were used to provide the investigators enough information to determine what the unknown phenomenon most likely was. The duration of the sighting, the date, time, location, or position in the sky, weather conditions, and the manner of appearance or disappearance are essential clues for investigators evaluating reported UFO sightings.

Project BLUE BOOK categorized sightings according to what the team suspected they were attributable to:Astronomical (including bright stars, planets, comets, fireballs, meteors, and auroral streamers);Aircraft (propeller aircraft, jet aircraft, refueling missions, photo aircraft, advertising aircraft, helicopters); Balloons; Satellites; Other (including missiles, reflections, mirages, searchlights, birds, kites, spurious radar indications, hoaxes, fireworks, and flares); Insufficient Data; and finally,Unidentified.

According to Quintanilla, “a sighting is consideredunidentified when a report apparently contains all the data necessary to suggest a valid hypothesis, but its description cannot be correlated with any known object or phenomenon.”

5. Eliminate False Positives

Eliminate each of the known and probable causes of UFO sightings, leaving a small portion of “unexplained” cases to focus on. By ruling out common explanations, investigators can focus on the truly mysterious cases.

Some common explanations for UFO sightings discovered by early investigations included: misidentified aircrafts (the U-2, A-12, and SR-71 flights accounted for more than half of all UFO reports from the late 1950s and most of the 1960s); celestial events; mass hysteria and hallucination; “war hysteria;” “midsummer madness;” hoaxes; publicity stunts; and the misinterpretation of known objects.

Even history can shed some light. An interesting citation found by the 1953 Robertson Panel noted that some sightings had been attributed to an older phenomenon – “Foo Fighters” – that pre-dated the modern concept of UFOs: “These were unexplained phenomena sighted by aircraft pilots during World War II in both European and Far East theaters of operation wherein ‘balls of light’ would fly near or with the aircraft and maneuver rapidly. They were believed to be electrostatic (similar to St. Elmo’s fire) or electromagnetic phenomena… but their exact cause or nature was never defined. If the term ‘flying saucers’ had been popular in 1943-1945, these objects would have been so labeled.”

6. Develop Methodology To Identify Common Aircraft and Other Aerial Phenomena Often Mistaken for UFOs

Because of the significant likelihood a common (or secret military) aircraft could be mistaken for a UFO, it’s important to know the characteristics of different types of aircraft and aerial phenomenon to evaluate against each sighting. To help investigators go through the troves of reports coming in, Project BLUE BOOK developed a methodology to determine if the UFO sighting could likely be attributable to a known aircraft or aerial phenomenon. They wrote up detailed descriptions characterizing each type of aircraft or astronomical phenomenon, including how it might be mistaken for a UFO, to help investigators evaluate the incoming reports.

7. Examine Witness Documentation

Any photographs, videos, or audio recordings can be immensely helpful in evaluating a reported UFO sighting.

A famous case examined by the Robertson Panel was the “Tremonton, Utah Sighting” of 1952, where a couple and two children traveling cross-country on State Highway 30 outside of Tremonton saw what appeared to be 10-12 bright shining objects moving westward in the sky in a rough formation. The husband was able to capture some of the objects on film.

The case was considered significant because of the “excellent documentary evidence in the form of Kodachrome motion picture films (about 1600 frames).” The Panel examined the film, case history, ATIC’s interpretation, and received a briefing from representatives of the USN Photo Interpretation Laboratory on their analysis of the film. The laboratory believed the objects were not birds, balloons, aircraft, or reflections, and therefore had to be “self-luminous.” The panel disagreed with the assessment that the objects were self-luminous, believing that if a controlled experiment was conducted, a terrestrial explanation for the sighting would be confirmed.

8. Conduct Controlled Experiments

As suggested by the Robertson Panel for investigating the Tremonton, Utah sighting (mentioned in tip #7), controlled experiments might be required to try and replicate the unknown phenomena. In the Tremonton case, the Panel suggested an experiment where scientists would photograph “pillow balloons” at different distances under similar weather conditions at the site. They believed such an experiment could help dispel the “self-luminous” theory about the objects in the film. Unfortunately, in this case, the cost of conducting such an experiment made the idea unfeasible.

9. Gather and Test Physical and Forensic Evidence

In the Zamora case (from the introduction), Quintanilla contends that during the course of the investigation and immediately thereafter, “everything that was humanly possible to verify was checked.” This included bringing in Geiger counters from Kirtland Air Force Base to test for radiation in the landing area and sending soil samples to the Air Force Materials Laboratory. “The soil analysis disclosed no foreign material. Radiation was normal for the ‘tracks’ and surrounding area. Laboratory analysis of the burned brush showed no chemicals that could have been propellant residue,” according to Quintanilla. “The findings were all together negative.” No known explanation could be found for the mysterious event.

10. Discourage False Reporting

The Robertson Panel found that the Air Force had “instituted a fine channel for receiving reports of nearly anything anyone sees in the sky and fails to understand.” This is a classic example of needing to separate the “signal from the noise.” If you have too many false or junk reports, it becomes increasingly difficult to find the few good ones worthy of investigation or attention.

The CIA in the early 1950s was concerned that because of the tense Cold War situation and increased Soviet capabilities, the Soviets could use UFO reports to ignite mass panic and hysteria. Even worse, the Soviets could use UFO sightings to overload the US air warning system so that it could not distinguish real targets from supposed UFOs.

In order to lessen the amount of false-positive reports, the Robertson Panel suggested educating the military, researchers, and even the public on how to identify objects or phenomena commonly mistaken for UFOs. For example, they recommended training enlisted, command, and research personnel on how to properly recognize unusually illuminated objects (like balloons or aircraft reflections), as well as natural phenomena (such as meteors, fireballs, mirages, or noctilucent “night” clouds). By knowing how to correctly recognize objects that were commonly mistaken for UFOs, investigators could quickly eliminate false reports and focus on identifying those sightings which remained unexplained.

The post The CIA’s 2016 Guide to “How To Investigate a Flying Saucer” first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post The CIA’s 2016 Guide to “How To Investigate a Flying Saucer” appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

The following was submitted directly to The Black Vault, by Jesus Payan.  All photographs are copyrighted to him, and can NOT be reproduced without prior, written, permission.

Witness Testimony

According to Mr. Payan:

I went outside to see the storm that was brewing and thought, what a great shot of the sunset and proceeded to take a photo when I saw the object appear then disappear as I took photos. It was motionless and silent. 

Tularosa, New Mexico – 6:11 pm
Location: My front yard.
I can be reached through Facebook
Facebook.com/jesusjr2012

Note from The Black Vault: I did confirm that this object was seen with the naked eye, thus potentially ruling out the probability of lens flare, or an artifact from the camera.

Photo Gallery

Additional Information

Interestingly, this witness is running for the 2016 Democratic nomination of President of the United States. The following is some background information on Mr. Payan:

Jesus Payan is a Hollywood actor who has appeared in over 30 films and TV shows but best known for the Emmy award winning Breaking Bad and Emmy nominated show Better Call Saul. Born into a U.S. Air Force family and a former Federal Detention Officer, he also worked for the Behavioral Sciences department in the training of Crisis Intervention for Law Enforcement.. He is also known as a Philanthropist and mentor to many youths across America and Native American Nation’s. A self-taught Lecturer on Ancient Civilizations and Anthropology.

In a time when our country is facing multiple distressing hardships economically and socially, effecting us at home and abroad. I feel it is my duty as an American Citizen to step up to the plate and bring our Great Country back to it’s Original Values and Strengths for it’s People. For when The American People are Strong we can be strong for the rest of the world.

THE JESUS PLATFORM:
-Diplomacy / Peace
-Universal Health Care
-Protect our Rights, Liberties and Freedoms
-Free Public College
-Increase wages for Teachers
-Increase wages for Police
-End the war on drugs
-End Police brutality
-Demilitarize the Police
-End Private Prison Systems
-Decriminalize Marijuana/Hemp
-Find a new and Humane solution to the immigration situation
-Rebuild our Infrastructure
-Protect our Veterans
-Seek Diplomacy and peace resolutions
-End over seas Conflicts
-End Homelessness and Hunger here in America
-Bring jobs back to America
-Convert from fossil fuels to renewable energies
-Equal pay regardless of sex, creed or sexual orientation
-Equal rights regardless of sex, creed or sexual orientation
-Reform of foreign policies on trade that send jobs over seas
-Raise minimum wage and make sure it’s not followed by a mass hike in all living expenses.
-If it’s not good for all Americans it’s no good at all.

The post UFO at Sunset, Tularosa, NM first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO at Sunset, Tularosa, NM appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

I used a Leupold Mil.Spec. 60×40 sniper scope adapted using my iphone. I my dad and a couple of friends noticed various blinking lights “dancing” around the moon at the start of the eclipse at about 7:50pm mountain time.

As I was aiming with the tripod I caught a glimpse of something bright and quickly (which was odd because of the parallax) I snapped a picture so I could look at it later.

My friend noticed a small flash of light on the top of the eclipse, that was captured on the picture. I did take multiple pictures at various shutter speeds this one came out the clearest.

I’ll send you a zoomed in version I took. It was taken on September, 28th 2015 at 8:30pm in Albuquerque New Mexico in the Northeast heights facing the Sandia Mountains.

Photo Gallery

The post UFO Appears During September 27th, 2015 “Blood Moon” first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO Appears During September 27th, 2015 “Blood Moon” appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

By David Martosko

Conspiracy theorists and Star Wars fans, get ready: New film footage is being promoted as a UFO sighting, and it looks like Han Solo could be at the helm.

The saucer-like airborne vehicle, posted on YouTube by the Alien Disclosure Group UK’s Stephen Hannard, appears to follow a spacecraft — or is it a man-made aircraft? — as it travels near the ground, hovers, and disappears behind a building.

“Possible leaked footage of a UFO arriving then landing at an unknown location in New Mexico,” Hannard wrote. “Could be one of ours, CGI, or could be the real deal. As Always You Decide.”

CGI refers to Computer-Generated Imagery, the high-tech method Hollywood film makers use to create visual effects that don’t really exist.

Watch:

Some YouTube commenters aren’t convinced that the footage is from new Mexico, let alone alien-assisted.

“Ok, first, a UFO would never go back to New Mexico,” one wrote. “I … uh … I mean THEY made that mistake back in 1947. Finally, that spaceship does NOT belong to Bob the Martian. Not that I would know if Bob the Martian exists, but IF HE DID, then I was not … I mean HE was not flying that ship last night and he does not own it. So, to recap, that is not my ship –I mean Bob’s ship! That’s not Bob’s ship and he was not flying under the influence … I DIDN’T MEAN TO FLY THAT LOW!!! I WAS DRUNK, OKAY?”

Some commenters have noticed that for five seconds, near the end of the video, an emblem in the shape of a five-pointed star appears on the exterior of the UFO. But at least one offered a plausible — or at least entertaining — explanation.

“They always have a flasher light on the tail like that so that no other UFOs will rear-end them,” the viewer wrote. “They put that US military decal on it to be inconspicuous. ‘Hey, just a normal US Air Force jump ship, folks, nothing to see here.’ That’s what they want you to think. Good thing it was a Sunday and nobody was working in any of those buildings, except Joe the cleaner, and nobody ever believes him when he says a giant UFO landed outside and that’s why he didn’t have time to clean that toilet.”

The video has been viewed more than 1.6 million times since Feb. 20. And YouTube surfers seem to be having fun with it.

“Man. Pass the bong,” one added. “That was way cool.”

“Bitch please,” quipped another, “that’s my new car.”

The post UFO Allegedly Lands In New Mexico, 2012 first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post UFO Allegedly Lands In New Mexico, 2012 appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.

This case file has now been labeled a hoax, as the photo was from a 1980’s film known as Xtro. 

Original news story still archived below for reference.

Recent NM ‘skinwalker’ photo ignites fear

By Kim Vallez, KRQE News

CUBA, N.M. (KRQE) – Is a strange alien-looking creature prowling in northern New Mexico?

A Facebook picture circulating Thursday has a lot of people up there worried. The post was shared thousands of times within a few hours and had a lot of people uttering the word skinwalker, a well-known legend in Indian country.

The picture shows an unexplained being lurking on the side of a road.

The person who posted it claimed it was taken near Lybrook and Counselor, which is near the Jicarilla reservation.

The story claims that a geologist was working in an oil field in the area and saw something odd and decided to take a heat signature of it. The next day, the geologist suddenly quit.

The story spread like wildfire with people on social media saying, “seriously freaking out,” “yikes … I’m driving through there tomorrow,” and “skinwalker!”

Skinwalker refers to a Native American legend which was brought to life by author Tony Hillerman.

According to the legend, a skinwalker is a person with the supernatural ability to turn into any animal and walks on all fours.

There are stories of countless encounters, but few will speak of them, too scared they will be targeted again.

Many people who posted and shared the picture Thursday said they found their posts and comments disappear. People who emailed it to others said they were unable to retrieve it.

But everyone can rest easy. It didn’t take long for the picture and story to be debunked.

It apparently comes from a 1980s science fiction move “Xtro,” where a creepy being is born, then goes on the prowl and is spotted by a couple driving along the road.

It’s unclear how the story was connected to Lybrook or Counselor, or that so-called geologist. Perhaps it was just someone having a little fun, but it shows the power of social media and legends.

The New Mexican who posted the image Thursday has since taken it down, saying she shared it because others had. She says she has no information about its origin.

Source and special thanks: KRQE News 

The post Recent NM ‘skinwalker’ photo ignites fear first appeared on The Black Vault Case Files.

The post Recent NM ‘skinwalker’ photo ignites fear appeared first on The Black Vault Case Files.