What happened
On April 24, 1964, at around 5:45 p.m., police sergeant Lonnie Zamora was chasing a speeding car south of Socorro when he heard a roar and saw a flame above a nearby gully. He turned off the road and spotted a shiny, aluminum-like, egg-shaped object standing on legs, with two short figures in white coveralls beside it. When he drove closer, there was a roar and the object rose on a column of flame, then flew away silently. Four landing-gear impressions and charred bushes were left at the site. The case was investigated by military investigators, the FBI, and J. Allen Hynek, who considered Zamora completely credible.
Witnesses
Sergeant Lonnie Zamora; later State Police Sergeant Sam Chavez, who examined the traces; several residents reported a blue flame in the area.
Explanations and hypotheses
Project Blue Book classified the sighting as “unidentified” – it is one of the most famous such cases. A lunar lander test or a balloon was considered, but no matching flight was found. There was also a hypothesis of a prank by students at the local mining college, mentioned in 1968 correspondence of chemist Linus Pauling, but it has not gained convincing evidence.
Unexplained There is no convincing explanation.
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