Socorro
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 📍 Place
Contents 5
| Type | Place |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Socorro, New Mexico |
| On the Timeline | 2 events, 1964–2003 |
Socorro is a city in the Rio Grande valley of central New Mexico, the seat of Socorro County, about 120 km (74 miles) south of Albuquerque. In UFO history it is known for the 1964 sighting by police officer Lonnie Zamora, one of the most investigated cases in Project Blue Book's files.[1][2]
History
_(14779554781).jpg)
In June 1598 the Spanish expedition of Juan de Oñate, having crossed the desert stretch known as the Jornada del Muerto, was given food and water by the Piro people of the pueblo of Teypana. The Spanish renamed it Socorro, meaning "help" or "aid", and a mission was probably founded there around 1626. The settlement was abandoned after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and resettled around 1815. The railway arrived in July 1880, and between 1876 and 1890 the district was one of the richest lead and zinc mining areas in the United States.[1]
Today
The city had a population of 8,707 at the 2020 census. It is home to the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, founded in 1889 as the New Mexico School of Mines. The Very Large Array radio telescope on the Plains of San Agustin and the Trinity atomic test site on White Sands Missile Range lie within reach of the city.[1]
The Zamora sighting
On 24 April 1964 Socorro police officer Lonnie Zamora, chasing a speeding car on the edge of town, saw a flame in the sky and drove to investigate. He reported seeing a shiny, egg-shaped object on the ground with two small figures beside it, which then rose with a roar and flew away, leaving burn marks and depressions in the ground. Project Blue Book's consultant J. Allen Hynek investigated, and the case was listed as unidentified. Explanations proposed since include a hoax by students at New Mexico Tech and an experimental craft, but none has been proven.[2]
On the UAP Timeline
- Holloman landing and hangar claim (1964) (30 April 1964) — A claimed UFO under guard at Holloman AFB; the same day a pilot reports an egg-shaped object.
- Socorro rock analysis (3 May 2003) — Kit Green says rock from the 1964 Socorro landing was analyzed at NASA Goddard.
References
- Socorro, New Mexico — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Lonnie Zamora incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.
No discussion yet.