Holloman landing and hangar claim (1964)
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 8
| Date | 30 April 1964 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Military encounters (topic) |
| People | Lonnie Zamora, Coral Lorenzen |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 66 |
| Year | 1964 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1964 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 8 |
On 30 April 1964, six days after police officer Lonnie Zamora's famous sighting at Socorro, New Mexico, a B-57 pilot over the White Sands range reportedly radioed that he had seen a white, egg-shaped object, which then landed. The story, published by the civilian group APRO, was later linked to claims that a UFO was held at Holloman Air Force Base and to the legend of a pre-arranged alien landing there.[1][2]
The B-57 report
According to an article by APRO co-founder Coral Lorenzen, on Thursday 30 April 1964 the pilot of a lone B-57 on a routine mission near Stallion Site, a few miles east of San Antonio, New Mexico, on the north range of the Holloman–White Sands integrated test range, radioed main control that he was not alone in the air. Asked to describe the object, he said it was egg-shaped and white, with markings like those reported at Socorro. After another pass he reported that it was on the ground; radio communication then stopped, and photo crews were told to stand by.[1][3]
The hangar claim
APRO also reported an airman's claim that a UFO was being held under guard in a hangar at Holloman. Lorenzen published the story in the July 1964 APRO Bulletin and later articles. The account rests on APRO's anonymous informants.[2][3]
The Holloman landing legend
A far more elaborate story says that in 1964 aliens landed at Holloman by prior arrangement and met Air Force officers. Filmmaker Robert Emenegger said that in 1973 Air Force officers promised him film of such a landing for a documentary; the film was never supplied, and the story appeared only as a dramatisation. Some researchers think the legend began as a film pitch or disinformation.[4][5]
Status
Neither the B-57 landing report, the hangar story nor the "Holloman landing" has any official documentary support. The Socorro case itself remains one of Project Blue Book's best-known unexplained cases.[4][6]
People and topics
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Holloman Air Force Base — An Air Force base next to White Sands.
- Socorro — The New Mexico town where Lonnie Zamora reported a landing in 1964.
- Lonnie Zamora — Police officer who reported the 1964 Socorro landing.
- Project Blue Book — The Air Force's public UFO investigation from 1952 until its closure in December 1969.
- APRO — A civilian UFO research group founded by Coral and Jim Lorenzen in 1952.
- Coral Lorenzen — Co-founder of the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO).
- White Sands — The New Mexico missile test range.
- U.S. Air Force — The U.S. military service that ran the official UFO projects from 1947 to 1969.
- Disinformation — False information spread deliberately to mislead.
On the Timeline
- Jerome Nelson's Atlas missile site sighting (Late 1963) — An Atlas missile launch officer's affidavit describes a glowing round UAP over his site in New Mexico.
- Big Sur UFO film (September 1964) — An officer says he studied film of a UAP downing a test warhead over the Pacific; the CIA took it.
See every 1964 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Coral Lorenzen, "UFO lands at Air Force base", reprinted by Real TV UFOs (Apr 2016) · realtvufos.blogspot.com · archived copy
- APRO Bulletin, July 1964 (PDF), AFU archive · files.afu.se · archived copy
- NICAP document file on White Sands, 1964 (scanned PDF) · nicap.org · archived copy
- "An alleged 2001 National Institute for Discovery Science...", UFOs Scientific Research (Jun 2019) · ufos-scientificresearch.blogspot.com · archived copy
- "Holloman AFB", Project 1947 · project1947.com · archived copy
- Lonnie Zamora incident — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- The 1964 Holloman legend: fact or fiction? — Alamogordo local news · 2ndlifemediaalamogordo.town.news · archived copy
- nicap.org · nicap.org · archived copy
Further reading
- Holloman Air Force Base — 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.
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