The incident that thrust Sergeant Lonnie Zamora into unwanted fame continues to spark debate 60 years later. Marks on the ground, blue fire, and two strange figures turned this case into an enigma that seemed to defy all explanation. It was the encounter that transformed J. Allen Hynek into the «Galileo of Ufology» and became the most iconic file in the Blue Book Project. But, what if the answer was more down-to-earth? A former student of New Mexico Tech reveals a different story: his late confession could close the mystery. Experiment? Prank? Something else?
By Heriberto Janosch
The author would like to thank journalist, writer and researcher Patricio Abusleme Hoffman for his collaboration.
The incident that occurred in Socorro, New Mexico, on April 24, 1964, is recognized as one of the most solid and documented encounters in the history of official UFO research, now referred to as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), recorded by the U.S. Air Force’s Blue Book Project. Its significance lies not only in the credibility of the main witness, police officer Dionicio E. (Lonnie) Zamora (1933-2009), but also in the physical evidence found at the scene and the absence of a convincing conventional explanation.
The event took place at approximately 5:45 PM when Officer Zamora, while chasing a speeding vehicle on Route 85 south of Socorro, was interrupted by a sudden explosion-like sound accompanied by a column of flames that seemed to come from an area near a dynamite storage facility. Assuming an accidental explosion, Zamora abandoned the chase and headed towards the area to investigate.
As he reached an elevation that allowed him to observe the valley, he spotted, from a distance of more than 100 meters, an object that appeared to be a car resting on its hood or trunk. The object rested on what seemed to be two metal legs, apparently structural, supporting it directly off the ground. In the vicinity of the object, Zamora noticed the presence of two figures, dressed in white one-piece suits. The scene with the car and the two figures lasted about two seconds. He continued driving, losing sight of the scene as he passed behind a hill. After battling through the terrain obstacles, he got closer to the scene.
The minimum distance at which Zamora positioned himself relative to the object was approximately 30 to 40 meters. From this point, he witnessed how the object emitted a loud sound, described as a roar similar to that of an engine, accompanied by a bluish-orange flame coming from its underside. Zamora continued to think it was a flipped car, but almost immediately feared an explosion was imminent and panicked, retreating about 30 or 40 meters. While retreating, he occasionally looked back and saw the object rising vertically to a height of about 4.5 to 6 meters (15 to 20 feet), where it hovered for a few seconds. At that moment, Zamora stumbled and lost his corrective glasses. Later, the object began to move horizontally, following the irregular contours of a ravine, approximately 1 meter off the ground, until it disappeared from sight to the southwest. Zamora observed the entire sequence without his glasses. Only after the object had vanished did the officer return to the spot where he had tripped and retrieve his glasses. Surprisingly, none of the reports reviewed considered it relevant to specify the prescription of his glasses, which he did not use during part of the observation. However, it is understood that since he wore them while chasing another vehicle, he had myopia.
The site was later inspected by local authorities and investigators from the Air Force, including Dr. J. Allen Hynek (1910-1986), an astronomer and scientific consultant for the Blue Book Project. Marks on the ground, interpreted as the object’s support legs, and areas of scorched vegetation were found. Soil and vegetation analysis revealed no radioactive residues or chemicals associated with conventional fuels.
Zamora estimated that the observation lasted about 50 to 60 seconds, with the most critical phase—the takeoff and final flight—occurring while he was without his glasses. Despite this, his account remained firm, detailed, and consistent in each subsequent interview. The exhaustive investigation by the Air Force, which included verification of experimental aircraft flights, weather balloons, and nearby military tests, failed to identify the origin or nature of the object, so the case was officially classified as «unknown.»
The combination of a credible and trained witness, documented physical evidence, and the lack of a conventional explanation made the Zamora case one of the most solid files within UFO research in the United States.
J. Allen Hynek’s Role
The Zamora case was not only recorded as one of the iconic files of the Blue Book Project, but it also marked a turning point for J. Allen Hynek, the astronomer hired by the U.S. Air Force as a scientific advisor to analyze UFO reports.
Since 1948, Hynek had worked with the Air Force as a scientist whose task was to analyze sightings and, when possible, provide explanations based on meteorology, astronomy, or optical phenomena. He was not a militant skeptic, but rather a scientist who aimed to find natural explanations before classifying a case as unknown. Hynek typically identified weather balloons, stars, airplanes, or optical illusions, resolving incidents reasonably. However, the Zamora case was different.
From the beginning, Hynek encountered an exceptionally credible witness: a police officer with a good record, who sought no publicity and, on the contrary, showed clear discomfort due to the attention he received. Moreover, the site inspection revealed physical evidence—ground marks and burned vegetation—that perfectly matched Zamora’s description. There was no obvious astronomical, atmospheric, or technological explanation that could logically account for the incident.
After conducting his assessment, Hynek could not explain the case and classified it as «unknown,» a classification that, while rare, had occurred before. However, the strength and consistency of the evidence in this case, and a few others, led him to reconsider his general approach. For the first time, Hynek began to suspect that behind some of these cases, there could be a real phenomenon, one that warranted systematic scientific investigation, free from prejudice and open to unconventional hypotheses.
This process of reflection, partly triggered by the Zamora case, culminated in 1972 with the publication of his most influential work, The UFO Experience: A Scientific Inquiry, where he proposed a new framework for classifying close encounters, including the now-famous categories of First, Second, and Third Kind. In keeping with this spirit, Hynek founded the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS), an institution dedicated to the rigorous and scientific investigation of UFOs, combining the scientific method with high-credibility testimonies and laboratory analysis.
Hynek’s story is inseparable from that of Socorro.
The Zamora case was one of the key moments, if not the key, that opened his mind to the possibility of a genuine phenomenon, and it marked the point where he stopped merely explaining and began exploring. Thus, he went from being an external scientist to becoming the leading global promoter of a serious, responsible scientific approach to the study of UFOs. Other researchers have dedicated years to studying this, many of them following in his footsteps.
Context: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
In the 1960s, the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, known as New Mexico Tech, was a high-level technical academic institution located in the small town of Socorro, New Mexico. Its prestige lay in training engineers, geologists, and scientists with a strong practical focus. Despite its small size, the campus had gained a local reputation for the ingenuity of its students, who stood out for both their technical skills and a marked inclination towards elaborate pranks, many of which tested their creativity and knowledge in mechanics, electricity, and other applied disciplines.
Pranks were part of the institute’s unofficial culture, and while there was no formal record of these activities, they were well-known among students, professors, and the local community. The practical nature of the careers taught at New Mexico Tech fostered an environment in which students developed improvised projects, ingenious systems, and creative mechanisms. These technical skills were often part of internal jokes, ranging from interventions in common areas of the campus to temporary modifications or alterations of structures or devices within the university.
Beyond the pranks, there was an extracurricular component of technical exploration. Motivated by scientific curiosity and a desire to apply the knowledge learned, students often engaged in activities outside academic hours, frequently in the surrounding desert areas. These spaces, far from direct supervision by professors and university authorities, allowed for informal testing of technical skills and personal experimental projects.
This environment encouraged a culture of technical creativity and a certain irreverent spirit, where applied knowledge was combined with humor and a desire to surprise peers and professors.
The reputation for cleverness and pranks followed New Mexico Tech students off-campus, fueling a public perception that the institute could produce minds capable of anything, at least from a technical standpoint. This reputation, though occasionally exaggerated, reflected the spirit of an institution where practice and inventiveness were valued as much as theory.
The Revelation
In 1981, seventeen years after the Socorro incident, Kevin J. Ashley had purchased press articles in a special edition dedicated to the case and was discussing the topic with his coworkers. One of them, leaning against the doorframe, smiled and said, “It was me.” The speaker was Bruno R., an engineer and former New Mexico Tech student. He told Ashley the details of the incident and some of the tests they had been conducting at the supposed landing site, mostly for fun. We have the full details of this self-confessed author, now 83 years old.
He and a colleague had been unofficially experimenting with dynamite. Essentially, they would ignite the fuse of dynamite covered by a metal drum and watch how far the drum would fly after the explosion.
There will be a second, more detailed report soon. For now, as a summary, we can say there were three phases of observation in the incident:
- In the first phase, Zamora sees a vehicle and the two students from more than 100 meters away for about two seconds. He thought it was a crashed vehicle, and went to help.
- In the second phase, Zamora approaches 30-40 meters from the scene, still thinking of a car accident, but almost immediately a loud noise and flames are seen. Zamora panics and moves away, and when he looks back, he sees the drum flying about 6 meters off the ground.
- In the third phase, Zamora loses his glasses while stumbling in his escape, and when he approaches without his glasses, he sees the students’ car moving southwest (with myopia and without glasses, he later described it as a balloon moving about 1 meter off the ground).
Following the initial information received, we have attempted to contact other former New Mexico Tech students who might provide more details about the incident: Robert Cudney, Peter Kun, and Woodrow Monte.
So far, none of them has responded to our request.
REFERENCES
(1) Hynek, J. A. (1972). The UFO experience: A scientific inquiry. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company.
(2) Ashley, K (2017). A new witness? http://www.nmsr.org/socorro.htm
SECOND REPORT AVAILABLE
In his search for a coherent explanation of the Socorro case (New Mexico, 1964), Dr. Heriberto Janosch recently contacted engineer Kevin J. Ashley, a former student at New Mexico Tech (1973-1979).In 1981, a co-worker of Ashley’s revealed to him that he had been one of those responsible for the incident. From the confession, he developed his own hypothesis about what happened, respecting both Zamora’s testimony and the data collected at the time. CLICK HERE.
[Investigation ongoing, more updates to come]
