Below is an extensive compilation of UFO reports in New Mexico and surrounding areas for June/July 1947 gleaned primarily from a review of over two dozen New Mexico newspapers, two El Paso newspapers, about 20 Arizona newspapers, plus a few miscellaneous sources.  Many new cases from Colorado have been added in 2007 from Ted Bloecher's massive nationwide review of the 1947 newspaper UFO reports.

See also companion Texas area UFO reports with more extensive coverage of Texas, plus Oklahoma and Arkansas.

The most sightings in this compilation were 20 on July 8, the same day as the Roswell base press release and Ramey's telegram and debunking. Other "hot" days were July 6 with 13 sightings, June 27 with 12, July 4 with 8, and June 29 and July 7 with 7 each. Altogether there are over 110 sightings, about 40 from June (or before) and about 70 from July.  Of these, about 70 are directly from New Mexico or areas immediately adjacent (e.g., El Paso and SE Arizona).  The concentration of sightings surrounding the immediate White Sands area was especially heavy, making up approximately 50% of all N.M. sightings even though this was only about 10% of the state by area.  Over 90% occurred during the two week period between June 25 and July 10.  A complete review of Texas and Colorado newspapers would probably turn up many more sightings from the immediate New Mexico area.

For graphical plots of these sightings click here.

Click here to go directly to reports

In some cases, when reports published in different newspapers were brought together, some interesting patterns emerged.  E.g., on June 27, at 9:50 am, two witnesses in widely separated locations (Albuquerque and San Antonio, N.M.) seemed to observe the same event -- a ball of light, initially high in the sky, diving straight down towards the ground and disappearing from sight in the distance.  The approximate location of this event can be determined by triangulation from the directions given by the witnesses (southeast of Albuquerque and east of San Antonio).  This would be near the towns of Carrizozo and Capitan (and also near the Brazel debris field). Also at 9:50 am, a railroad worker at Pope Siding, N.M., about a dozen miles south of the San Antonio witness, likewise reported a flame or white, light bulb-like disk high in the sky and falling towards the ground.

Perhaps simultaneously (though reported as happening about 10:00 am) were two other reports from Capitan of a shiny object streaking through the sky and possibly headed downward. At possibly the same approximate time, a Cpt. Detchmendy reported an object traveling southwest over the White Sands Missile Range. Also, at about the same time, was a report from south of Las Cruces of a ball of light streaking in from the northeast, which would be in the direction of Capitan and White Sands.

These newspaper reports were scattered over a seven day period in six different newspapers from Gallup, Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Hobbs, and El Paso.  Only when they are compiled and compared does a possible correlation between the various sightings emerge.  Another case that might be connected to this was the widely reported incident of a Capt. Dyvad from the Alamogordo base who had a ball of fire disintegrate beneath his plane while he was flying near Tulerosa.  This happened on the same day (though the time wasn't specified), and Tulerosa is on a straight line between Capitan and Las Cruces. 

[The same Capt. Dyvad was probably also involved in the demonstration of weather balloons and radar targets at the Alamogordo base on July 9 used to debunk the saucers and the Roswell incident and was probably an intelligence agent of some sort.  (click here for more information)  Dyvad tried to dismiss his encounter as a meteorite, as did the commander of White Sands Proving Ground, but this is scientifically implausible.]

Another multi-sighting correlation from the same day, but 12 hours later, centered on Tin Town, in southeast Arizona near the Mexican and New Mexican border.  Many mining personnel saw a disc-like object perhaps come to earth.  At about the same time, in northwestern New Mexico in the towns of Gallup and Shiprock, two independent witnesses saw something streaking through the sky and disappearing over the southern horizon.  One reported his sighting to meteor expert Harvey H. Nininger, who was reasonably certain he had sighted a meteorite coming to earth in southeastern Arizona.  However, the witnesses in Tin Town variously reported the disc-like object being "mirror-like", silent, wobbling as it flew, and being clearly outlined against a hill, which does not sound like what would be reported for a meteor crashing to earth.

A relatively famous and widely reported incident involved 4 witnesses, 3 of them being Naval rocket experts, at White Sands Proving Ground two days later (June 29) who saw a bright, shiny, elliptical object traveling at high speed overhead and then suddenly vanishing.  This event was reported nationally on July 8.  The Air Force eventually tried to debunk this sighting as a balloon, though one would think expert witnesses like this would know the difference.

Another ironic example of the Air Force debunking their own people involved a sighting by a Project Mogul observer in late August while he was watching a test balloon carrying a radar target through binoculars.  He spotted an object streaking at high speed over the Sacramento Mts., only to have it explained away that he was observing false radar targets on radar, even though this was a visual sighting!  Amazingly the same sighting report notes that Mogul at some time had picked up multiple objects on radar at an altitude of 200 miles!

White Sands Proving Ground was involved in another sighting on July 4 (also July 8 -- see below) when the El Paso building inspector said that he and a carload of people saw two glowing disks hovering over WSPG before they suddenly dashed away.

UFO sightings at WSPG may date back to May 1947 during two V-2 launches in which the missiles went seriously off course.   In the first launch on May 15, a military witness claimed an unknown object suddenly appeared on radar near the missile just before it malfunctioned.  He also claimed to see a photo of a flying disk taken by one of the V-2 cameras.   In the second instance on May 29, the editor of one of the Las Cruces papers said he saw two bright, starlike objects near the missile as it headed down to crash near Juarez, Mexico.  The embarrassing Juarez crash received national front-page coverage.  (See first two cases)

Objects diving at high speed were again reported on June 30 by a Naval pilot flying near the Grand Canyon.  This report was considered among the most credible by military intelligence and comes from declassified Air Intelligence files. 

Another object diving at high speed was reported over Phoenix the next evening (July 1).  According to one witness, the object then stopped suddenly before taking off at incredible speed to the east.  Two independent sets of witnesses from two different parts of the city probably witnessed the same object moving rapidly eastward at the same time.

An unusual clustering of sightings spread over a month-long period starting June 10 also occurred in sparsely populated southeast Arizona, adjacent to the Mexican border, near Tin Town, Bisbee, Douglas and Nogales, Arizona.  There are about 17 such sightings listed here, 7 of these being of multiple objects, some maneuvering in unusual ways or traveling at high speed.  Another half dozen cases could be added if nearby Tucson was included, with 3 more multi-object sightings.

One multi-witness sighting over Nogales on July 8 is noteworthy because an attempt was made the next day (called "unofficial reports") to debunk it as an Army radar target, just like the one they said had caused all the ruckus near Roswell.  This seems to have been part of the nationwide military debunkery campaign to explain away all saucer reports as coming from radar target sightings.)

Denver, Colorado had a mass sighting on the morning of July 8 when many residents all over the city reported multiple discs (formations of up to 10 at a time) for a period of several hours.  This compilation lists 5 such sightings from Ted Bloecher's review. 

Another interesting cluster of sightings occurred the night of July 8 starting at about 9:30, when an El Paso man claimed that a thin, disk-shaped object came straight at his car.  Ten minutes later, three witnesses in two different parts of El Paso reported a round and a "silver-dollar"- shaped object streak over the city and disappear to the north.  Possibly not too long after this, a group of witnesses in Las Cruces 30 miles north of El Paso reported a large light approach rapidly from the south and break into three pieces when it was between Las Cruces and the Organ Mountains, about a dozen miles to the east.  Immediately, it was reported, searchlights went up from the White Sands Proving Grounds on the other side of the mountains and searched the skies for an indefinite period of time.  In this case,the reports came from 4 groups of  witnesses published in 3 newspapers from 2 cities.

Another cluster of reports also happened in El Paso the previous evening (July 7) between 8:45 and 9:00 p.m.  Overall, there was a very heavy concentration of reports from the El Paso region, including two from the neighboring Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez reported by the Mexican press.

At dusk, on July 7, William Rhodes took some famous photos of a heel-shaped object north of Phoenix, published July 9 in the Arizona Republic and some other newspapers.  This incident got a lot of attention from military intelligence who immediately confiscated all prints from the newspaper and Rhodes' negatives soon afterwards.  (This is well-documented from documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.)  It is perhaps notable that one of the Denver witnesses the next morning described one of the discs spotted there as being similarly half-moon shaped, a description also used by pilot Kenneth Arnold from his sighting on June 24, the first sighting to get mass media attention.   Similarly, the editor of a Las Cruces newspaper reported seeing a glowing half-moon-shaped object August 22. Also, according to some Roswell witnesses, the recovered crash object was similarly heel-shaped with a concave trailing edge. 

Shortly after the Rhode's photos, up in Kingman, Arizona, at 10 p.m., two pilots had an encounter with two orbs of light on a collision path with their plane.  When they maneuvered to avoid a collision, the lights separated, then rejoined over the city and continued on their way.

Again in Phoenix, on July 9, a neighborhood watched 3 disk-like objects maneuver overhead, moving against the wind, and passing through the clouds.  The reporting witness said he ruled out birds and weather balloons, and also said he observed them through binoculars.

Another important sighting was made by Dr. Lincoln LaPaz and his family on July 10 about 80 miles north of Roswell.  In his report to the Air Force, LaPaz insisted that what he saw wasn't conventional, since he observed it rise at a rate incompatible with a conventional aircraft.  This sighting did not make the newspapers since LaPaz didn't report it to them.  However, it did first appear in a rather famous 1952 LIFE Magazine article on the UFO phenomenon, though LaPaz remained anonymous.

LaPaz was a well-known astronomer and meteor expert and was employed by the Air Force on a number of occasions in secretive New Mexico UFO investigations, including the New Mexico green fireball phenomenon that started in late 1948.  According to some military intelligence people (see, e.g., affidavit of Earl Zimmerman), LaPaz was also called in immediately after the Roswell incident and asked to determine the trajectory of the crash object.

A number of other sightings also occurred over and near Roswell.  The important point here is that the Roswell events of early July didn't occur in a vacuum.  A large number of baffling aerial phenomena were reported occurring over the skies of New Mexico and neighboring areas at the same time.

(Note:  Reports marked with an asterisk * involved former or active military personnel, police officers, pilots, scientists, or were special cases in some other way, such as the Rhode's photographic case in Phoenix on July 7, or the Roswell sighting on July 2 by the Wilmots.  These cases are also marked on the graphical plots with an asterisk.)

Tuesday, April 29, 1947, (or the Tuesday before or after)

Tucson, Arizona, just after noon (New -- 2007)

Mrs. H. G. Olavick was in her kitchen and Mrs. William Down  was out in the backyard patio. Suddenly Mrs. Down called her out excitedly.  Somewhat north lay an unusual, isolated, "steamy-fleecy" cloud at an altitude which Mrs. Olavick estimated at or below 10,000 feet. The sky was otherwise completely cloudless. In and out of the cloud moved a number of dull-white disc-like objects that rose and fell in an erratic manner, occasionally disappearing into or above the unnatural cloud. The objects were round but not spherical, for they frequently tipped a bit, exposing a flattened-sphere form. She estimated that they watched the objects cavorting near the cloud for perhaps 5 or 6 minutes before the entire group suddenly disappeared within the cloud or perhaps above it.  After about a minute, a new object, perhaps three or four times as large as the little objects, came out of the cloud on its east side followed by the the small objects, taking up a V-formation pattern behind it: 4 abreast directly behind, then 3, and 2 abreast in the rear, or 9 small objects in all.   Immediately the formation shot off to the northeast, climbing out of sight in  two to three seconds. She did not recall what happened to the cloud after the objects departed. She and Mrs. Down thought they had witnessed some new secret American military vehicles and therefore didn't report it. Later she heard of the "flying saucers;" she and Mrs. Down, told their husbands, but they made such a joke of it that they stopped talking about it.  Ted Bloecher, who collected the report 20 years later, said Mrs. Olavick contacted him because she thought she had seen the same 9 objects that Kenneth Arnold had seen on June 24 after reading an article about it.  (Ted Bloecher 1947 review)

Thursday, May 15

*White Sands Missile Range, Tularosa Basin, N.M., 4:11 p.m. [possibly related to Roswell crash]

--A V-2 rocket went 40 degrees off course and crashed 6 miles east of Alamogordo, N.M.  According to the Las Cruces Citizen, Lt. Col. Harold R. Turner, Whites Sands Proving Ground Commander, blamed the erratic flight on "peculiar phenomena."  (Later the official explanation was a defective fin.  Click here for more Commander Turner comments on White Sands' sightings from June 27.)  Former N.M. State Representative Andrew Kissner interviewed a former officer from WSPG.  According to Kissner, the "peculiar phenomena" was "a radar target that instantaneously appeared next to the ascending V-2 missile."  Immediately afterwards, the missile changed course.  Included in the V-2's instrumentation were 4 gun cameras in the tail and 2 midsection cameras.  The military source also claimed to have seen a photo of a "flying disk" taken from one of the cameras. The object was of great concern to high-ranking officers at the Pentagon and civilian scientists within the Joint Research and Development Board, chaired by Dr. Vannevar Bush (alleged head of supersecret "MJ-12" saucer control group).  Allegedly it was declared hostile and a "shoot down" order was issued that led to a series of flying disc crashes in New Mexico, including the well-known crash near Corona, N.M. in early July.  [Las Cruces (N.M.) Sun Times, 5/16/47; Las Cruces Citizen 5/22/47; San Diego Union 5/16/47; Linda Howe's Earthfiles report (includes pictures of Las Cruces newspaper stories.  Bush and the JRDB did in fact meet with acting AAF Chief of Staff Gen. Hoyt Vandenberg in a hastily called meeting on July 8, just a few hours before Roswell AAF issued its famous recovered flying disk press release. ]

Monday, May 19 (New -- 2007)

Manitou Springs, Colorado (near Colorado Springs, 100 miles north of N.M.), 12:30-1:00 p.m.

Seven employees of the Pikes Peak Railway, including Navy veteran Dean A. Hauser, mechanics Ted Weigand and Marion Hisshouse, T. J. Smith and L. D. Jamison, were having lunch when Weigand noticed a bright, silver-colored object approaching rapidly from the northeast. It stopped almost directly overhead at an estimated altitude of 1000 feet.  Hauser said the object approached in a straight line, then “began to move erratically in wide circles. All this time it reflected light, like metal, but intermittently, as though the angle of reflection might be changing from time to time.” It was difficult to get a clear idea of its shape, and even viewing it through binoculars did not appear to “bring it any closer.” The group watched it perform more wild gyrations for 20 minutes as it climbed, dived, reversed its flight course, and finally moved off into the wind in a westerly direction. “It disappeared in a straight line in theWNW in a clear blue sky,” Hauser reported. At no time did anyone hear any noise. An account of the sighting appeared in the Denver Post of June 28. The next day the Post reported that the witnesses had been interviewed by representatives of the 15th Air Force headquarters and the results of the investigation would be sent on to Washington. It was written off by the Air force as “possible birds.” (Ted Bloecher 1947 review)

Thursday, May 29

White Sands Missile Range, ~7:30 p.m.  [possibly related to Roswell crash]

Secret modified V-2 (Hermes B-2) goes 180 degrees off course and crashes in a massive explosion one mouth south of the border near Juarez, Mexico, generating front page news stories.  WSPG Commander Turner blamed a faulty aged German gyroscope for the mishap.  The editor of the Las Cruces Sun-News, who watched the launch, said he saw two "first magnitude stars" near the missile before it headed down to crash.  According to the El Paso Times, Maj. Gen. John L. Homer, Commander of Ft. Bliss (north of El Paso), witnessed another explosion 25 miles north of the Juarez crash and 10 minutes before.  Homer dispatched troops to look for missile wreckage 10-15 miles NW of Ft. Bliss towards WSPG.  Kissner claims this second explosion was really due to a surface-to-air missile fired at one or more radar targets hovering to the southwest of WSPG (see alleged "shootdown" order generated by May 15 V-2 incident above).  Further, allegedly, the many fatal plane crashes that immediately followed represented retaliation for the attempted shootdown.  Pres. Truman appointed an Air Safety Board two weeks later to investigate the sudden upsurge in severe accidents.  (Linda Howe's Earthfiles; El Paso Times, Las Cruces Sun-News, many other newspapers reporting Juarez crash such as N.Y. Times and L.A. Times, 5/30/47; wave of plane accidents documented in many front page stories on 5/30/47 and 5/31/47..Although Kissner's theories are interesting, they are mostly conjecture.  E.g., the spike in fatal plane crashes might just be a statistical fluke with no connection to N.M. events.)

Tuesday, June 10

Douglas, Arizona (SE Arizona, Mexican border), 11:00 p.m. (Updated -- 2007)

--While meteor watching, Mrs. Coral Lorenzen saw  a light glowing at the foot of the hills to the south in Mexico, "which soon took the shape of a tiny but well-defined ball, then rose into the air very quickly and was lost to sight among the stars."  It was perfectly clear and the air was steady.  The sighting lasted 4-6 seconds.  She dismissed conventional explanations such as research planes, balloons, or missiles, writing this was traveling much too fast. (Coral Lorenzen, The Great Flying Saucer Hoax; p 4, also Jacques Vallee, Magonia Files) [In 1952, Lorenzen and her husband Jim started and headed the UFO organization APRO,  Aerial Phenomenon Research Organization]

About  Tuesday, June 17

Nogales, Arizona (Mexican border, 60 miles west of Douglas), unspecified time

-- On July 8, Louis Cefola, a Nogales watchmaker, reported that he first saw what he thought were "discs" three weeks before over the Washington Camp mountain range, about a dozen miles east of Nogales.  He gave the matter little thought until the publicity about the discs broke out.  He described the objects (number not specified) as sort of a reflection against the sky, circular in shape, and about a foot in diameter.  (Nogales Daily Herald, 7/9)

Friday, June 20

Hot Springs, N.M. (probably present-day Truth or Consequences, N.M. ), unspecified time

--Mrs. Annabel Mobley and daughter Luanne traveled expressly to Albuquerque to report seeing three groups of three discs moving from south to northeast.  At first they thought they were huge balloons.  The discs "seemed to be fastened together by invisible cords" and were "turning in a wheel-like circle all at the same rate of revolution."  (Albuquerque Journal, 7/2)

Sunday, June 22 

El Paso, Texas, 3:30 p.m.

-- Dr. Oliver Dickson, an optometrist, his daughter, and W. A. Beck saw an object shaped somewhat like a blimp but pointed at both ends, like two pie-pans face to face, very bright and shiny like chrome but not reflecting the sun's rays and traveling south in an absolutely straight line over Mt. Hamilton.  It disappeared in about 15 seconds over Mexico.  Dickson estimated it traveled about 5 or 6 miles in this time period (or 1200+ mph).  There was no smoke or noise.  Comparing it to aircraft at the same distance, he estimated that it was about 30-40 feet across, 5 feet thick, and 3000 feet above the mountain top.  (El Paso Herald-Post, 6/28; El Paso Times, 6/29; Gallup N.M. Independent, 6/28; Carlsbad Daily Current-Argus, 6/29; Hobbs N.M. Daily News-Sun, 6/28, Albuquerque Journal, 6/29)  New! Photo

Tuesday, June 24

Near Mineral, Washington, 3:00 p.m., 23 miles WSW of Mt. Rainier

--The famous Kenneth Arnold sighting, the first widely reported UFO sighting in the U.S. press.  While flying his private plane, Arnold said he saw 9 flashing, blindingly bright, disk- or saucer-like objects flying in a chain formation at high speed past Mt. Rainier, weaving and maneuvering in unison.  Arnold also said they weren't perfectly disc-shaped, but were chopped in the back and came to a point.  Arnold further determined the distance of flight south of Mt. Rainier and timed it, arriving at the then astonishing speed of at least 1200 mph.  Arnold's sighting resulted in the coining of the popular terms "flying saucer" and "flying disk."

Wednesday, June 25

East of Pueblo, Colorado (about 70 miles north of N.M.), afternoon   (New -- 2007)

--Driving home to New Orleans, Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd M. Lowry "suddenly observed a strange, oval-shaped missile approaching at a high rate of speed.  It was first seen first at an estimated 2,000 feet altitude, but descended rapidly, swooping down to 500 feet above their car. Following this object was another similar one, approaching on the same course.  Said Mr. Lowry, "We were alarmed.  As the first one approached, we could see it revolving at tremendous speed on its axis, even faster than its forward flight." As it reached a point just above and ahead of the car, "it suddenly veered off sharply to the right, and at the same time its companion did likewise." The objects then disappeared to the south in a matter of seconds. Mr. Lowry hesitated to report the incident because he was afraid it would not be believed. (Ted Bloecher 1947 review, originally New Orleans Times-Picayune, 7/7)

Navajo Reservation north of Gallup, N.M., 6:30 - 7:00 pm

-- Mrs. B. A. Tillery and her mother saw an object that looked like a large, glowing star, but it was still broad daylight.  It disappeared in a short time in the southeastern sky.  (Gallup Independent, 6/30; Las Cruces Sun-News, 6/30; El Paso Herald-Post, 6/30; Santa Fe New Mexican, 6/30; El Paso Times, 7/1; Albuquerque Journal, 7/1, 7/2)

Silver City, N.M., 8:00 pm  (Updated -- 2007)

-- Dr. R. F. Sensenbaugher, a dentist, his wife and her sister, Mrs. C. B. Munroe saw a "luminous disc" approach from the north for 6-7 seconds before it disappeared over the southern horizon.  He said it appeared to be "about half the size of the full moon", "very brilliant, giving off a green light", "far-distant", and not moving at an excessive speed.  (Albuquerque Journal, 6/28; Roswell Morning Dispatch, 6/29)  Sensenbaugher reported his sighting to meteor expert Dr. H. H. Nininger (see also Nininger below), who concluded that the object was "definitely a meteor and probably landed 200 miles south of Silver City, in Mexico." However, the Sensenbaughers could not connect the phenomenon with anything they had experienced before. (Ted Bloecher 1947 review), also Santa Fe New Mexican, 6/28, Los Angeles Times, 6/28)

Thursday, June 26

Grand Canyon, Arizona, unspecified time

-- While visiting the Grand Canyon en route to Berkeley, CA., Mrs. Leon Oetinger of Lexington, KY said she saw a large silver ball, looking something like an airplane, but falling too swiftly to be an airplane.  She said it was in sight for one minute, but by the time she called her son's attention to it, it had "swooshed to almost the horizon point" and disappeared. She said her son Dr. Leon Oetinger, Jr., and Miss Carol Street of Winston-Salem, N.C. saw it too.  (Phoenix Gazette, 6/30)

Friday, June 27

Albuquerque, N.M., 9:50 am

-- Albert J. Beevers, general yardmaster for the Santa Fe railway, saw a pale blue ball to the southeast drop rapidly from an angle of about 45 degrees and disappear within a few seconds behind some trees and buildings.  (Albuquerque Tribune, 6/27)  [This appears to be the same object in the next reports spotted dropping rapidly to the east or SE of  Socorro at the exact same time.]

5 miles South of San Antonio, N.M. (near Socorro), 9:50 am

-- While driving south on the main highway , Mrs. W. B. Cummings saw a falling silver object, blindingly bright and shiny.  It was too bright to make out the shape.  It dropped in the east starting at a 1:00 o'clock position, fell for about 3 seconds, and then disappeared behind some trees at a considerable distance on the east side of the highway.  It left a short white trail.  She thought maybe it was something fired from White Sands Proving Ground (WSPG), but they denied any recent rocket firings.  (El Paso Times, 6/29)

Pope Siding, N.M.,  9:50 am

-- W. C. Dodds, track inspector for the Santa Fe Railroad, saw a flame or "white disc like an electric light bulb" "high in the sky" ("in the southeast portion" according to one story) when he was one-half mile south of "Pope", N.M., (probably Pope Siding, along the SFRR tracks, about 18 miles south of San Antonio, 40 miles south of Socorro, and about 80 miles north of WSPG).  In an El Paso Times' story, Lt. Col. Harold Turner, commanding officer at WSPG, said he had received the report about Dodds' sighting and the object was reported as falling.  According to the papers, Turner eventually equated it to the Detchmendy sighting below and attributed both to a meteorite.  He also said he received the report of the Dyvad sighting below of something also falling from the sky and sent out search parties from White Sands in attempts to locate the objects or secure additional information.  The Dyvad sighting was also explained away as a meteorite.  (El Paso Times, 6/28, 6/29; El Paso Herald-Post, 6/28, Hobbs N.M. Daily News-Sun, 6/28, Albuquerque Journal 6/29, Las Cruces Sun-News, 6/29)

Capitan, N.M., about 10:00 am

-- Hollis O. Cummins said his mother noticed a shiny object streak through the sky.  Later a neighbor, Erv Dill, said he saw a similar object going in the same direction (unspecified) at the same time, and believed it landed on Wilson Hill left of the "C" (possibly to the South or SW). (Albuquerque Journal, 7/2)

*Near Tulerosa (cited by one source as Oscuro), N.M., about 30 miles west or WSW of Capitan, unspecified time [Roswell related witness]

-- According to newspaper accounts, while flying in a private plane at 8000 feet, Capt. J. Dyvad (probably actually L. Dyvad) of the Alamogordo Army Air Base reported seeing a "ball of fire with a blue fiery tail" disintegrate about 2000 feet beneath him. Earlier, Lt. Colonel Harold Turner, C/O at WSPG had reported that Dyvad had seen "an object falling from the skies near Tulerosa."  Dyvad attributed the sighting to a meteorite, as did Turner.  Turner also made the rather bizarre claims that the meteorites were "coming closer to the surface of the earth" making them "appear much larger" and they "might look like a shiny disc if caught at a certain angle in the sun's rays."  (El Paso Herald-Post, 6/28; El Paso Times, 6/29, Hobbs N.M. Daily News-Sun, 6/28, Albuquerque Journal 6/29, Las Cruces Sun-News, 6/29) [Tulerosa is on a straight line between Capitan and Las Cruces.]   (Click here for more on Capt. Dyvad, a possible Army counterintelligence agent, also working.with Project Mogul.)

*St. Augustine Pass, N.M., unspecified time

--Capt. E. B. Detchmendy of the Ordnance Dept. at White Sands, was said to have also seen "a ball of fire" while driving through St. Augustine Pass, east of Las Cruces and near WSPG, which he thought was a meteorite.  (One source has the object traveling SW over WSPG and minutes after the Dodds sighting above.)  Commanding Officer Turner at WSPG equated the Dodds and Detchmendy sightings and attributed them to yet another daytime meteorite. (El Paso Herald-Post, 6/28; El Paso Times, 6/29, Hobbs N.M. Daily News-Sun, 6/28, Albuquerque Journal, 6/29, Las Cruces Sun-News, 6/29; Berlitz & Moore, The Roswell Incident)

Mesilla Valley, San Miguel, N.M., 8 miles south of Las Cruces, 10:00 am

-- Mrs. David Appelzoller reported seeing a white object looking like an electric light bulb, only larger, with a yellow flame streaming out the rear, coming out of the northeast in the direction of White Sands Proving Ground and disappearing in the southwest.  It appeared to be very low and traveling at a high rate of speed.  (Las Cruces Sun-News, 7/2; Gallup Independent, 7/3)  [Note: WSPG, Tulerosa, and Capitan are all NE of this position.]

Near Shiprock, N.M. (northwest N.M.), unspecified time (New -- 2007)

--Dr. R. L. Hopkins reported seeing something to friend and meteor expert Dr. H. H. Nininger.  Nininger said he believed that what Dr. Hopkins saw "could have been a meteorite falling somewhere in southeast Arizona."  No other details. (Note following possibly related reports, including from SE Arizona.)   However Nininger also thought Kenneth Arnold (June 24) had seen mechanical objects. (Bloecher 1947 review, originally Denver Post, 6/28/47)

Gallup, N.M. (90 miles south of Shiprock), 10:30 pm

-- Art Roberts, Gallup barber, reported seeing something sweep from the northeast and disappear quickly over the southern horizon.  (El Paso Times, 7/1, Gallup Independent, 6/30; Las Cruces Sun-News, 6/30; Albuquerque Journal, 7/1, 7/2)

Tin Town, Arizona (near Bisbee in SE Arizona), 10:30 am  (Updated -- 2007)

--John A. Petsche, an electrician/electrical worker at Phelps-Dodge Corp., and at least five other witness independently reported a disc-shaped object overhead and seeming to come to earth near Tin Town. Petsche said it was mirror-like and moved "like a flash of light."  The disc wobbled as it moved but made no sound.  A mile and half away, John C. Rylance, electrician, I. W. Maxwell, and Milton Luna observed the object come out of the northwest at an angle of 75 degrees.  As it came into view, it was clearly outlined against one of the hills.  Like Petsche, they were positive it was a material object and not an illusion or reflection.  It did not look very large, was more oval-shaped than round, and seemed to be elongated at the rear.  Vernon C. McMinn, electrician gang boss for Phelps-Dodge told reporters that several other employees also saw the object and descriptions tallied.   (Coral Lorenzen, The Great Flying Saucer Hoax, p. 6, quoting Bisbee Review & Douglas Dispatch; Berlitz & Moore, The Roswell Incident; Jacques Vallee, Magonia files, who gives wrong date of June 17)

*Warren, Arizona (also near Bisbee), unspecified time

-- George B. Wilcox, a retired Army major, reported seeing eight or nine discs.  "I saw they were perfectly spaced one behind the other and traveling at terrific speed.  They passed over in intervals of three seconds.  They were all the same size.  They would flash and then disappear with the speed of lightning."  (Flagstaff Arizona Daily Sun, 7/8; Phoenix Gazette, 7/8; Prescott Evening Courier, 7/9) [Very similar to June 24 Kenneth Arnold sighing]

12 to 15 miles east of Van Horn, Texas, between Pecos and El Paso, unspecified time

-- J. E. Shelton, Jr. of El Paso said he saw a silver disc that was "so bright it blinded you."   (El Paso Times, 6/29)

Saturday, June 28

30 miles northwest of Lake Mead, Nevada, 1:15 pm PST     [Air intelligence case]

--Lt. Eric B. Armstrong, Air Corps pilot of Brooks Field, San Antonio, left Brooks at 2:00 p.m.

CST for Portland, Oregon. An hour and 15 minutes later, at 1:15 PST, over Nevada wasteland, he saw a formation of five or six objects streak by his plane. He described them as white and circular and said they were in close formation in the four o'clock position off his right wing, at about 6,00 feet, flying a southeast course at an estimated speed of 285 miles an hour. They flew in a straight, horizontal path and seemed to be about three feet in diameter. They quickly flew out of sight in the opposite direction, behind the pilot. The Air Force explanation for this sighting is "balloon cluster." (Ted Bloecher 1947 review)

Appleton, Colorado (near Grand Junction), daytime  (New -- 2007)

--H. E. Soule, of the western Colorado farming community of Appleton, told Grand Junction authorities that he saw a two-foot disc of "non-shiny aluminum" color sail out of the northwest sky at an altitude of about 200 feet. The object "swooped" over his home, narrowly missing the roof, veered eastward and gained altitude quickly as it followed Highway 6 for about a mile, then turned southeast and disappeared from sight. Soule described its speed as "amazing," and said he heard no motor sounds nor saw any vapor trail. [ Bloecher 1947 review, originally Salt Lake City Deseret News, 7/5; St. Paul Pioneer Press (UP, Chicago), 7/5; Cleveland Plain Dealer (UP, Chicago, 7/4), 7/5]

Santa Fe, N.M., 5:00 pm

-- Former Santa Fe school superintendent Mrs. Alda Sheets and Mrs. K. L. Bickel and daughter saw two objects traveling West to East at a high rate of speed soon followed by a third.  The Bickel daughter called their attention to the objects, at first thinking she was seeing the moon.  (El Paso Times, 7/1)

Roswell, N.M., Nighttime

-- Aubrey Gregg of Roswell and some friends were driving along Border Hill, when "they observed a brilliant bluish light flashing off and on at regular intervals, high in the sky."  Gregg said the light was moving very fast, but not as rapid as a falling star.  The party witnessed the object for about five seconds before it disappeared over the horizon. (Roswell Morning Dispatch, 7/4) [Compare to July 4 Roswell fireball sighting.]

Sunday, June 29

Cliff, N.M. near Silver City, late morning

-- Rancher Arthur Howard reported seeing a shiny object fall in broken country.  A search by two pilots found nothing, but they reported passing through a layer of "stinking" air.  (Albuquerque Journal, 6/30)

*Tucson, AZ, 1:20 pm

-- Charles O. Weaver and his wife reported seeing 9 or 10 objects, very shiny, "like metal."  They were moving in a southwesterly direction, two of them faster than the others, and were out of sight within a few minutes.  Weaver, who had a pilot's license, was unable to estimate the objects' height.  (Tucson Arizona Daily Star, 7/6, 7/7)

Camp Little, Arizona (just NW of Nogales, 50 miles south of Tucson), afternoon

--:Luis Bazurto and Armando Macias were sitting with their families in their front yard, when they saw about six disks fly in at great speed from the west and disappear toward the northeast.  Macias said the objects looked about the size and shape of a large dinner plate and flew in circles, first in one direction, then another, before fading out of sight.  He wasn't sure if they made a sound because of the noise of neighborhood youths who first attracted his attention.  Golfers at nearby Nogales golf course said they saw nothing unusual.  (Nogales Herald, 7/3; Phoenix Gazette, 7/3)

*15-20 miles ENE of Las Cruces near White Sands Proving Ground, N.M., 1:15 p.m. [nationally reported]

--Dr. C. J. Zohn, Curtis C. Rockwood, and John R. Kauke, all Naval rocket experts, and Rockwood's wife, were driving towards WSPG from Las Cruces when they spotted a bright, silvery disc in the east traveling straight and north at 10,000 feet at speeds estimated to be faster than sound. Zohn said it had no projections and appeared to be flat and elliptical in shape.  Kauke managed to briefly see a vapor trail after he stopped the car, not reported by the others.  They watched it for nearly a minute and then, said Zohn, it "simply disappeared" in mid-air in a clear blue sky.  "It was clearly visible and then it wasn't there.  It didn't go behind a mountain range."  Zohn was sure it had nothing to do with V-2 rocket experiments.  While not discounting a missile, he said it was unlike any missile or anything else he had ever seen. (Albuquerque Journal, 7/8; Clovis New Mexico Press, 7/8; Silver City Daily Press, 7/8; L.A. Times, 7/8; Washington Times-Herald, 7/8; Washington Post, 7/8;  Washington Times, 7/8; Brad Sparks list of unknowns ) [Zohn was in Washington DC when he reported his sighting. Because of the background of Zohn and companions, this was a nationally reported case.  The Air Force later claimed they.had seen a balloon.]

Smyer, Texas (near Lubbock), unspecified time

-- A Lubbock couple, who would not give their names for fear of ridicule, said they saw a disc "about the size of the moon" moving in a southwest direction.  (El Paso Times, 7/1)

El Paso, Texas, soon after 4:00 pm

-- Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Burgess said they saw a silver-colored, top-shaped object, something like a balloon, and blindingly bright.  It traveled north at high speed and seemed to "melt into the sky" in about 10 minutes.  (El Paso Herald-Post, 6/30)

San Angelo, Texas, unspecified time

-- Mrs. Victor L. Salter and her 13-year-old son saw a disc-shaped object revolving slowly and slowly descending, looking the size of a washtub.  Suddenly it shot upward at "an unbelievable speed."  (El Paso Times, 7/2/47, Roswell Morning Dispatch, 7/2)

Monday, June 30

*Grand Canyon, near Williams Field (Arizona), 9:10 am [important air intelligence sighting]

-- Navy Lt. William G. McGinty was flying a P-80 at 30,000 ft toward the south when he saw two circular objects diving at "unconceivable" speed. They were gray, about 10 ft, in diameter, and appeared to land 25 miles south of the Grand Canyon. They were written off by the Air Force as probable meteors.Jacques Vallee "Magonia" files, Brad Sparks list of unknowns; Ted Bloecher 1947 review, from Air Technical Intelligence files)

Albuquerque,N.M.,  unspecified time

--A railroad worker named Price saw 13 silvery, disk-shaped objects traveling one another over Albuquerque.  Initially they were headed south, but abruptly changed course to the east then reversed to the west before disappearing.  Price alerted the neighborhood, who also watched the objects maneuver overhead.  (Berlitz & Moore, The Roswell Incident; original source??)

Tucumcari, N.M., 11 pm

--Mrs. Helen Hardin reported on July 8 seeing a flying saucer from her front porch traveling east to west at high speed.  It was slightly yellowish and looked about half the size of the full moon.  She watched it for about 6 seconds.  It was low in the sky and appeared to go down to the ground outside of town.  She thought it might be a meteor, but it didn't fall as fast as meteors, and she also noticed a whirling motion as it neared the ground. (Originally Tucumcari, Daily News, 7/9; reported in Bertlitz & Moore, The Roswell Incident)

Late June or Early July, just before Roswell Incident

*Roswell, N.M., noon (New! -- 2009)  [important Roswell related witness]

In 2008, Roswell witness Sgt. Earl Fulford stated that he and several other men had seen three round saucers hovering over Roswell base for two or three minutes.  Then they rapidly disappeared.  They were colored like dull aluminum and were at an estimated 2500-3500 feet.  He said that prior to this, he and the other men had been skeptical about the saucer rumors being circulated by civilians in town for 2 to 3 weeks, and also on the base.  Fulford was also later witness to a crash object being hauled back to a hangar on a low-boy truck being driven by a friend and also being taken out to a large crash site for a clean-up detail, where he witnessed the strange "memory foil" described by many others.  (Open Minds forum phone interview 2/10/08, (see11:40 into interview; UFO Hunters--4:20 into video); see also Fulford's description of memory foil)

*Roswell, N.M., about 11:30 pm [important Roswell related witness]

-- In interviews in 1979 and 1981, Lt. Col. Jesse Marcel, Roswell AAF chief of intelligence in 1947,  said that there had been many reports of flying saucers in the area just before his involvement in the Roswell Incident starting July 6 or July 7.  One night, about 11:30, the base provost marshal, Major Edwin Easley, called him up and told him to get out to the base in a hurry.  On his way, south of town, he saw six bright lights in a perfect V-formation flying north to south, from overhead to the horizon in maybe 3 or 4 seconds, much faster than any plane.  (New!) When he got to the base, Easley told him he had just seen them too.   Marcel said a GI also told him 2 or 3 days later that he had seen the same thing.  (Interviews with Linda Corley and with Bob Pratt, Pratt interview reprinted by Karl Pflock in Roswell:  Inconvenient Facts and the Will to Believe) [Note:  What Marcel described sounds similar to the famous "Lubbock Lights" from 1951.  Click here for a description in a famous 1952 LIFE Magazine UFO article; photos here.  See also Marcel testimony on Wilmot Roswell sighting on July 2.]

Santa Rosa, N.M. (~90 miles north of Roswell), early July?, around 10:30 p.m. (New -- 2008)

In 2008, a 70-year-old retired psychotherapist related "vividly remembering" seeing when 9 years old

"a V-shaped line of about eleven lights streaking across the sky, first from one area, then from another, then another. They were streaking across the sky at a rate of speed that was quite clearly faster than anything made on earth in 1947. After about five minutes the V-shape changed to a diagonal line and continued the same pattern of streaking across the clear sky for a few more minutes."  In the morning he dashed down the street to tell Mr. Hoy, the editor of the small weekly newspaper (Santa Rosa News). Hoy told him that the Deputy Sheriff, Joe Pat Downing, was on patrol the night before and had told him he had seen the same thing.  Thirty years later the witness started hearing about the UFO crash in Roswell and connected his experience with what was taking place in Roswell.  (Frank Warren UFO Chronicles blog, 11/5/08, also reported on UFO Updates, 11/7/08; although other sightings were reported in the Santa Rosa News--see July 4, 6, 7 below--these alleged sightings were not; perhaps the time frame is wrong.)

Tuesday, July 1

Pima Indian reservation, just south of Chandler, Arizona, 9:30 am MST

--Robert E. Johnson, juvenile probation officer of Chandler county, reported seeing a lone silver-colored, discus-shaped object traveling at a "great rate of speed", headed north in a fairly direct way, and visible for two to three minutes.  He estimated its height at 5000 to 10,000 feet.  (Tucson Daily Citizen, 7/7)

Phoenix, Arizona, 9 pm

--Mr. and Mrs. Frank Munn reported witnessing an object moving east at great speed over Phoenix.  Nunn stated, "It was moving too fast for an airplane and not fast enough for a falling star.  It was larger than a star and appeared in the moonlight to be yellow in color."  It didn't seem to leave a smoke or vapor trail. (Phoenix Gazette, 7/2, 7/3) [See also report immediately below.]

Phoenix, Arizona, 9 pm

--Mrs. Earl Tutt had her attention called to an object by her son Harold Nice, 14.  It was a "bright object streaking earthward.  It didn't waver a bit.  When it seemed to be not far above the earth, it stopped suddenly, paused a second, and then took off eastward at incredible speed."  Given the unusual description of motion, a local astronomy instructor ruled out a natural astronomical object. (Phoenix Gazette, 7/3)  [The paper thought the two sightings were of the same object.]

Albuquerque, N.M., night

-- Max Hood, an Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce executive, reported seeing "a disc-like bluish object following a zig-zag path in the northwestern sky" for about half a minute before it disappeared in the vicinity of Volcano Peak.  (Albuquerque Journal, 7/2; -Roswell Daily Record, 7/2; Portales Daily News, 7/2; Gallup Independent, 7/2; Santa Fe New Mexican, 7/2)

Wednesday, July 2

*Roswell, N.M., 9:50 pm  [Important Roswell incident related sighting]

-- Mr. and Mrs. Dan Wilmot saw a large glowing object zoom out of the southeast and head toward the northwest at a high rate of speed before disappearing over the treetops. The entire object glowed as if showing through from inside.  Wilmot estimated it was in sight less than a minute, perhaps 40 to 50 seconds.  It looked oval in shape like two inverted saucers or two old type washbowls faced mouth to mouth.  Wilmot guessed it was 5 feet thick and 15 to 20 feet in diameter, 1500 feet high, and traveling 400 to 500 mph.  He said he heard no sound, but Mrs. Wilmot claimed to hear a swishing sound.  Wilmot was called "one of the most respected and reliable citizens in town." (New!) In a 1981 interview with Linda Corley, former Roswell intelligence officer Jesse Marcel added that Wilmot's son Paul told him (around 1980) that his parents had actually seen the object explode.   (Roswell Daily Record, 7/8; part of story reporting the Roswell base press release of a recovered flying disk)  [The Wilmot object has sometimes been attributed to the Roswell crash object; Marcel in the Corley interview seemed to think so too, and added that rancher Mack Brazel came to town a few days later to report something exploding over his ranch during a lightning storm.]

Early July (unspecified dates)

Ciudad Juarez (across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas), unspecified times

--In a July 7 AP story out of Mexico City, it was reported that 7 flying disk-shaped objects had been sighted over northwestern Mexican border cities in "recent days."  Five were seen over Mexacali and two over Ciudad Juarez.  No other details.  The source was Ernesto Ruran, announcer for radio station NEFI of Chihuaha City, who reported this Monday, July 7.  (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 7/8)

Friday, July 4

12 miles north of Carrizozo, N.M., morning

-- John Martinez and wife, and Father John Hallihan, all of Vaughn, N.M., were driving to Carrizozo when they saw an object in the sky below the summit of a small mountain range at a distance of about one half mile.  Martinez judged it to be about 20 to 30 feet across, metallic in color, and shaped like a plate or saucer.  Though they watched intently, it did not rise above the mountains nor stir up dust for a possible landing.  Father Hallihan said he did not see it as long as his companions and would not venture to say what it was, but they had seen something.  (Santa Rosa N.M. News, 7/11)

El Paso, Texas, noon

-- E. E. Polk said he saw a disc about a thousand feet high and traveling very fast in a westward direction.  It was visible for less than 15 seconds.  He described it as "the size of a pie plate with ragged edges."  It was an off-white color.  (El Paso Herald-Post, 7/9)

Near Organ, N.M. and White Sands Proving Ground, unspecified time

-- Harve Mokler, El Paso City Building Inspector, and four others in his car reported seeing two "flying discs" just above White Sands Proving Ground while driving back to El Paso.  Mokler said he happened to look back while driving through the Organ Mountain pass to see them hovering over the Proving Ground.  They appeared to be almost stationary for a minute, then darted out of sight.   He added, "They were shiny and appeared to be about as large as an office desk." White Sands officials said they had no disc experiments there.  (El Paso Herald-Express, 7/7; El Paso Times, 7/8)  (New -- 2014) In a follow-up article July 31, it was said Mokler had taken a lot of ribbing for his report.  However, Mokler produced a photo of a disc taken by William Rhodes of Phoenix on July 7, who sent him the photo and a cover letter saying others had confirmed seeing the same object. (El Paso Herald-Post, 7-31--Thanks to Don Ecsedy for article)

Near Santa Fe, N.M., unspecified time

-- The Moises S. Sanchez family of Santa Rosa, N.M., were participating in a family get-together and picnic when they saw an object "going at such a speed it was soon lost to view."  No other details.  (Santa Rosa News, 7/11)

*Colorado Springs, Colorado, late afternoon  (New -- 2007)

--A Colorado Springs Air Base pilot, who did not want his name to be quoted, reported that he had seen a disc-shaped object near the field after he had completed a flight and landed.  While standing next to his craft, he glanced toward the east and saw a disc, "about the size of a dime" and about the same shape, making a rapid ascent into the sky. He said that the disc must have been extremely large, for it disappeared into clouds that were later estimated to be about 20 miles distant. He turned to several other pilots standing nearby to call their attention to it, but when he looked back, the disc was no longer visible. The ceiling was estimated to be at 20,000 feet at the time the disc vanished into the clouds. No official report seems to have been made.  [Bloecher 1947 review, originally Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph , 7/6; Denver Post (AP, Colorado Springs, 7/5), 7/6; Casper (Wyoming) Tribune-Herald (AP, Colorado Springs, 7/5), 7/6]

Denver, Colorado, probably around 9:00 - 10:00 p.m. (New -- 2007)

Mr. and Mrs. L. A. Walgren, of 1574 Eliot Street, were sitting on their lawn watching the fireworks at the stadium at Denver University during the late evening when they were startled to see a group of objects fly overhead in an extended V-formation.  They disappeared quickly in a northerly direction at a high rate of speed before the Walgrens could even get to their feet. The witnesses described the formation of discs as giving the appearance of a "rippling, V-shaped cloud." The undersides of the objects appeared to reflect the citylights. As they passed over, the Walgren's described hearing "a hollow, rustling sound, like an air blast in an empty barrel."  ( Bloecher 1947 review, originally Denver Rocky Mountain News, 7/6/47)

Denver, Colorado, 11:00 p.m. MST: (New -- 2007)

--While driving home at  from a holiday party, Mrs. John Perrin saw "an aluminum-colored saucer do a flip-flop over the Union Depot." She said the object had "a big dome," and "a tail of flame." She was certain she hadn't mistaken it for a roman candle, or other fireworks. ( Bloecher 1947 review, originally Denver Post, 7/6)

*Roswell, N.M., 11:15 - 11:30 pm [possible Roswell incident related sighting]

-- A very bright fireball with a long tail was seen by several witnesses arcing across the sky and dropping below the horizon north of Roswell.  William M. Woody, who lived south of town and east of the base, recalled it coming out of the southwest and heading north [affidavit].  It had the color and intensity of a blow-torch flame.  It moved fast, but not as fast as a meteor, and was visible for 20 to 30 seconds.  A few days later, he and his father went to look for a possible meteorite, but access was blocked by a military cordon north of Roswell.  Another possible witness was Corp. E. L. Pyles, who remembers a bright light streaking downward and disappearing over the horizon.  He remembers this probably occurred before midnight and a few days before the news of the crashed disk broke in the local newspapers.  The fireball incident does not seem to be recorded in any newspapers.  However, two Franciscan nuns at St. Mary's Hospital, Mother Superior Mary Bernadette and Sister Capistrano, are supposed to have documented the sighting date and time in the hospital log, though this hasn't been made publicly available by the Catholic Church.  (originally from The Truth About the UFO Crash at Roswell by Kevin Randle and Donald Schmitt, who assigned the Roswell crash object to this fireball.) [Note:  It is conceivable that the dates and sighting were confused with the Roswell object sighted June 28, with a similar description.]

Saturday, July 5

*Denver, Colorado, around 9:00-10:00 a.m.  (New -- 2007)

--Ed Zimmerman, a veteran and rocket-motor experimenter, spotted a disc from his back yard. The object was directly over the dome of the capitol building, moving in a northeast direction.  He was able to observe the disc with binoculars and described it as being shaped "flat, like a pie-pan," with "a bulge, or knob on top, like a pilot's cockpit." It was dull-aluminum in color and from it trailed a cloud of vapor, suggesting to Zimmerman some kind of jet propulsion or rocket power. He estimated the height of the object at between 5,000 and 6,000 feet, its diameter at about 20 feet, and its speed between 1,100 and 1,200 miles an hour.  ( Bloecher 1947 review, originally Denver Post, 7/6 and 7/7)

Phoenix, Arizona, 7:45 pm

--Mr. & Mrs. Bert Trice and Mrs. Marie Recardo said they saw an object moving from east to west across the sky.  Mrs. Trice described it as being "as bright as the sun" and about 7000 feet high.  She said the disc, though small in the distance, was clearly visible.  It seemed to pause for a moment, then gain momentum and disappear from sight.  (Phoenix Gazette, 7/9)

Sunday, July 6

Belen, N.M., 35 miles south of Albuquerque, N.M., 5:00 am

--Two unidentified boys called the newspaper and said they saw five mystery objects pass over Belen and disappear over the Sandias.  They heard a swishing sound. (Albuquerque Tribune, 7/7)

Los Griegos near Albuquerque, unspecified time

--Jack Smith, 15, said he saw "about 25" discs near the Sandias. (Albuquerque Tribune, 7/7)

Near Estancia, N.M., 40 miles southeast of Albuquerque, unspecified time (could also be July 5) 

-- Sotero Sanchez Jr., working with engineers of the Soil Conservation Service, said that three of them were working in the field when they saw a mysterious body in the sky.  It was described as about the size of a small house with short wings and a motor in each wing.  (Santa Rosa News, 7/11)

Tucson, Arizona, 10:00 am

--Miles (Mike) Casteel, head football coach at the University of Arizona said he saw something "wavering" and flying south at high speed.  He stopped his car to get a better look, but it disappeared quickly.  It was moving too fast to have been a plane, which he thought he would have been able to follow.   (Tucson Daily Citizen, 7/7)

*Tucson, Arizona, 10:00 am

-- W. D. Magness, an employee of the Air Materiel Command at nearby Davis-Monthan Air Field, and Miss Faye Edwards, a boarder in his house, saw a white object north of the sun, at first stationary, then moving northward and wobbling like a kite.  It was visible for about 8 minutes, then began to move rapidly and disappeared in the north (or northeast).  Magness said "It did not glitter, as if made of metal, but looked more like snow."  He hesitated to guess at the height or speed because he didn't know the size.  (Tucson Arizona Daily Star, 7/7;Tucson Daily Citizen, 7/7; Nogales Herald, 7/7)  When interviewed 20 years later by Dr. James McDonald, Magness confirmed the newspaper accounts were essentially correct.  He added that the object was brighter than the sun:  "I have never seen such a bright light."  His 7-year old gradson was with him and he also summoned a neighbor, Mr. Weirson.  (Ted Bloecher 1947 review)

Tempe, Arizona (near Phoenix), about 1 p.m.

--Frances Howell said he saw "a circular object about 2 feet in diameter" float "like a kite" to the ground near his home.  When he, his wife, and some neighbors approached the spot, the object rose slowly in the air at a 45 degree angle and then took off at a "high rate of speed" toward the northwest in the direction of Phoenix.  Howell described the object as flat and thin, made of some sort of aluminum material, and appeared to be transparent.  The event was also witnessed by Howell's wife and another couple. The Air Force conclusion was that the report had "insufficient information" for identification.   (Phoenix Arizona Republic, 7/7; Phoenix Gazette, 7/7 Flagstaff Arizona Daily Sun, 7/7; Chicago Sun, 7/7, Bloecher 1947 review)

*Lubbock Texas, 1:30 pm

-- Jim Purdy, a former pilot with the Royal Air Force and U.S. Army Air Forces, said he saw a "silvery disc-shaped object" flying above Lubbock that fit the description of the flying saucers.  The object did not have any of the characteristics of a plane.  For one thing, it gained speed much more rapidly than any plane he had ever seen.  He said he saw it first at about 1000 feet altitude, moving in a slow, tumbling motion that exposed a bright side and a dull side.  After about 20 seconds, it gained speed rapidly and began flying in a direct line to the northeast.  (El Paso Times, 7/8; Roswell Morning Dispatch, 7/8)

Tucson, Arizona, 4:30 pm  (Updated -- 2007)

--Walter Laos said he saw two round, white aluminum in color objects appearing to be 5 or 6 feet in diameter, flying at about 200 miles per hour between 5000 and 6000 feet.  He saw them over the Catalina Mountains and they were traveling northeast towards Sabino canyon.  He claimed to have seen them every Sunday for the last four weeks and thought they might be dropped from a plane since he spotted them shortly after a plane passed overhead.  (Tucson Daily Citizen, 7/7; Nogales Herald, 7/7)  [The paper suggested maybe he was seeing weather balloons launched nearby.]  When interviewed by Dr. James McDonald 20 years later, Laos said there were 4 to 6 objects and at one point they all seemed to descend toward the ground, then swoop back up and disappear.  They were in view for no more than 15 seconds. (Bloecher 1947 review)

Tucson, Arizona, 5:00 pm

--Joseph Hendren, retired lawyer, said that he and his wife saw three of them while sitting on their porch watching the clouds.  At first they saw one, which looked like a kite.  Then they saw two more.  They were silvery, like sun reflected off of aluminum.  They were coming from the direction of Davis-Montham field to the east and went north.  They appeared to be very high and two seemed smaller than the other.  The two small ones "seemed to gravitate back and forth from the larger one." The larger one traveled in a straight course, but the smaller ones moved up and down and in and out from the larger one. They did not appear to be going very fast, but he couldn't be sure because he didn't know their height or size.  He thought they could conceivably have been something sent up by the weather bureau, but didn't know. (Tucson Daily Citizen, 7/7; Nogales Herald, 7/7)

Texas City, Texas, 5:05 pm

-- Mrs. Sadie McCauley of Houston said she saw seven flying saucers flying in a single line.  She said several other passengers on her bus some them as well from the Alvin Highway.  (El Paso Times, 7/8; Roswell Morning Dispatch, 7/8)

Mora, N.M (40 miles NE of Santa Fe), 6:00 pm

-- N. M. Barney, F. Cruz, Jr. and Richard O. Branch wrote the Albuquerque Journal that they saw "a strange object, saucer-shape, flying the skies from north to a southerly direction" at a rapid speed.  (Albuquerque Journal, 7/9)

*Denver, Colorado:, unspecified time of day (New -- 2007)

--LeRoy Krieger, Aerologist Second Class at the Buckley Naval Air Station, east of Denver, reported he had seen a bright object which he was convinced "was not an airplane." He and James Cavalieri, a Buckley Field hospital apprentice, reported they saw an object "round and shiny, like silver," to the east of the field, "shooting up and down." It made no noise, and after several minutes of maneuvering, the object left at high speed. "It was going like a bat outa hell," both agreed.  (Bloecher 1947 review, originally Denver Rocky Mountain News, 7/7)

Denver, Colorado,  9:05 - 9:07 p.m. MST  (New -- 2007)

--Harold Wallace reported he saw a group of disc-like objects "shooting" westward across the sky. They were in a V-formation and "made a dim light." Two minutes later, Stephen Witkin said he saw two

discs, of "a shiny, silver color," traveling to the southwest. (Bloecher 1947 review, originally Denver Rocky Mountain News, 7/7)

Monday, July 7

Phoenix, Arizona, 3:30 pm (Hoax)

-- At least 20 people saw two silvery balls flash across the Salt River Valley north of Phoenix for about 25 to 30 seconds.  All witnesses agreed on the main points:  first one "ball" was sighted, then the other.  At first they appeared to be balloons, but they traveled at an extremely high rate of speed in a west-east flight in otherwise dead calm air.  Estimated speed based on distance traversed during flight was well over 1000 mph.  Altitude was estimated at about 5000 feet.  The objects were flying on two levels until near the end when the lower "ball" climbed sharply to the level of the upper.  Both objects appeared identical and to be "about twice as large as an airplane."  However, the next day, employees at the Scott Engineering Company in Phoenix said that it was a hoax, that the objects were two dime-store, hydrogen balloons coated with aluminum paint, and the whole point was a "scientific experiment to prove that 99 per cent of what people think they see is pure imagination."  (Phoenix Arizona Republic, 7/8; Phoenix Gazette, 7/8, 7/9)

*Tucson, Arizona, 4:50 pm

-- Three patients at the Veterans Hospital said they saw a flying saucer.  Lewis Zesper, a former Army pilot, described it as oval shaped, about 25 feet in diameter, light metallic gray in color and wobbly in flight.  He estimated its altitude at 4000 feet and its speed in excess of a conventional jet plane. (Flagstaff Arizona Daily Sun, 7/8; Prescott Evening Courier, 7/8; Phoenix Gazette, 7/8)

Tucumcari, N.M., 6:00 pm

-- Mr. and Mrs. F. P. Lawrence said they saw "something" that seemed rather flat and round and looked like a reflection of a mirror.  It didn't appear to be traveling at a terrific rate of speed, but it was hard to tell.  It was moving west.  At first they thought it might be a plane reflecting sunlight, but a few minutes later they noticed a plane and it was completely different.  "I wouldn't say it was a flying saucer," stated Mr. Lawrence, "but that's about the only thing it could be."  (originally Tucumcari American, reprinted Santa Rosa News, 7/11)

El Paso, Texas, 8:45 pm

-- An unidentified woman reported seeing something that was more grayish in color than silver going from south to north across the sky.  (El Paso Times, 7/ 8)

El Paso, Texas, shortly before 9:00 pm

-- Four residents from two different parts of the city independently reported seeing flying discs.  Mrs. Walter Turner and her husband first saw a bright shiny light over Mt. Franklin that "zipped along" and disappeared in the east.  She said she heard no noise and it was unlike anything she had seen before.  At the same time, David Hunt and John Jordan said they saw "four round, flat, saucer-shaped objects shooting across the sky west and south over Mt. Franklin."  They appeared to be about 15 feet in diameter and about a thousand feet above the mountain.  They glowed and disappeared in about 20 seconds.  Hunt was sure he hadn't seen a searchlight or airway beacon beam. (El Paso Herald-Express, 7/8)

*Phoenix, Arizona, dusk  [Important Roswell related sighting]

-- William A Rhodes took 2 (or maybe 3) photos of a heel-shaped object with a concave trailing edge circling and banking north of town above his home.  The photos also showed a white spot near the center of the object.  It initially approached from the west and Rhodes heard a "whooshing" sound.  However, during its three clockwise circuits above him, Rhodes said he heard no sound.  It then sped off to the southwest at a phenomenal speed, again making no sound.  Rhodes said he saw twin vapor trails from the two points at the tips of the concave trailing edge. (Phoenix Arizona Republic, 7/9; San Diego (CA) Union, 7/9; Los Angeles Herald-Express, 7/9) [This incident was extensively investigated by military intelligence.  All prints were confiscated and Rhodes turned over his negatives to an FBI agent and an Army counterintelligence agent a few weeks later.  According to some witnesses, the Roswell crashed craft had a similar shape to what is shown in Rhode's photos.] (New -- 2014)  Later in the month, Rhodes sent a copy of one of the photos and a cover letter to El Paso witness Harve Mokler, who had a disc sighting near White Sands on July 4 (see above).  Rhodes stated, "On the day this picture was taken, about a dozen persons saw the same object.  Among them were top United Press and Associated Press newsmen who confirmed the fact that the object pictured was the same object which they had seen." (El Paso Herald-Post, July 31).

*Kingman, Arizona, 10:00 pm

-- Charles (Bill) Ely and flying instructor Frank Markel (or Marbel) were approaching the airport for a landing when two bright lights approached them from the east at about the same altitude of 600 feet.  Ely blinked his landing lights twice to signal his intention to land but received no response.  When the lights were only 500 or 600 feet away and still approaching, Ely banked his plane to get out of the way.  Markel said the lights then separated and soon rejoined one another over Kingman and continued their westward flight.  Ely said the lights were bright but cast no beam.  Both looked identical.  No details could be made out because of the darkness.  At closest approach they appeared to be separated by about 20 feet.  Neither men heard a noise, nor did operations people on the ground. Ely insisted that it be mentioned that he didn't drink.  (Mohave County Miner, Kingman, 7/10)

Tuesday, July 8

Las Cruces, N.M., 12:45 am

H. J. Rhoads thought at first he was seeing "an awfully bright star" as he was going to bed.  Then he realized it was something else and woke up his wife.  Rhoads said it was high and he couldn't tell the shape.  It made no sound.  It was moving almost due west on a steady course, not going very fast, and they saw it for a minute and a half or longer.  (Las Cruces Sun-News, 7/8)

Denver, Colorado: From mid-morning until noon  (New -- 2007)

--Multiple witness reports of several groups of UFOs making repeated appearances in the sky over Denver:  (Ted Bloecher 1947 review, originally Denver Post, 7/8, Denver Rocky Mountain News, 7/9)

• Fred Cullins, said he saw two groups, one of three and one of ten, dart through the sky from the west, scatter over the downtown area of Denver, and hover there for minutes before resuming formation and sweeping back to the west. He said sightings of discs were "thick" all morning in his neighborhood.
  

• Mrs. D. E. Marvin saw several formations of discs; hers "swooped" out of the area of the sun at "terrific speed and altitude," then flew back toward the vicinity of the sun. One of these objects turned flat and "looked like a half-moon." She said her aunt also phoned her from another part of town to let her know the objects were being seen.
  

• Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Ebert and three neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Orlando Groom, and Mrs. Ted Dilley, said they, and at least a half-dozen other persons on the block, had seen the discs from their backyards.  Ebert was the first to noticed and called his wife and others. He reportedly saw only one of the objects, which he described as "white and very high" and, as Mrs. Marvin had reported, appearing to "come out of the sun." He described it as "round and flat" and said there was no noise; it "appeared to leave vapor trails like a high-flying plane."  Others reported as many as 5 objects.  Mrs. Ebert said she saw several, which appeared to "dance in the sky, moving backward and forward, at times rising and falling.  They were visible for 1-1/2 hours in the morning before they finally veered off to the west and disappeared.
  

• Donald Wentee, eight years old, reported seeing a disc from the roof of his apartment building. He described it as orange, about "the size of a quarter,"  about 3,000 to 4,000 feet high, and much faster than a plane.
  

• * Private First Class Richard McNulty, and other patients lying on the lawn of Fitzsimmons General Hospital, saw a number of the objects at noon. The discs were coming out of the southwest at high speed at estimated heights of 10,00 to 12,000 feet, and were visible only briefly before they disappeared.
  

Yuma, Arizona (SW Arizona, near Mexican border), 8:15 am

-- Henry Varela reported that he and 2 other employees of the State Highway Dept., R. N. Villa and Henry Hodges, saw two, silver-colored objects streaking silently in a straight line, one behind the other, in a northeasterly direction (also reported as northwest).  Varela said they were shaped like saucers, very high in the sky, and moved with "amazing swiftness."  They looked about as big as toy balloons.  They disappeared, first one, then the other, "Just passed out of sight."  (Yuma Daily Sun, Flagstaff Arizona Daily Sun, 7/10; 7/8; Nogales Herald, 7/10; Coral Lorenzen, The Great Flying Saucer Hoax, p. 7 )

Nogales, Arizona (SE Arizona, Mexican border), 9:45 am

-- John W. Phillips of Nogales and his assistant William Barker reported seeing a disc "flying high and fast in a southwesterly direction as if toward the Gulf of Lower California." ( Nogales Herald, 7/8; Flagstaff Arizona Daily Sun, 7/8; Prescott Evening Courier, 7/8)

*Nogales, Arizona, about 10:45 am [Roswell related weather balloon cover story?]

-- Multiple Nogales citizens reported seeing a disk flying high over the city.  Sam Marcus of Arizona Furniture Co. and Guy Fuller of Western Union said they saw one soaring high over in the middle of the sky.  A few minutes later, Arthur Doan called in to report seeing the same object or another one.  He told reporters it was still visible in the NE sky.  Police Desk Sgt. Pete Mincheff also said he saw it.  The next day, "unofficial reports" said the "disc" was an Army weather kite, similar to one found in New Mexico. (Nogales, Herald, 7/8, 7/9)

Douglas, Arizona (SE Ariz., Mex. border, 60 miles E of Nogales), unspecified time  (New--2007)

--Mrs. Ray Wilder and Mrs. Earl Moore reported watching a disc-shaped object fly across the sky from west to east, changing shape slowing, and glinting in the sun. (Coral Lorenzen, The Great Flying Saucer Hoax, p. 7, originally Bisbee Review and Douglas Dispatch )

*Carrizozo, N.M., 10:30 am

-- Mark Sloan, operator of a Carrizozo flying field, reported a flying saucer sped almost directly over the field at about 4000 to 6000 feet altitude at an estimated  200 to 600 mph.  It oscillated like a feather, was traveling from the southwest to the northeast, and was in sight for only about 10 seconds.  It was also observed by Grady Warren, flying instructor, Nolan Lovelace, Ray Shafer, and another, all pilots.  (Carlsbad Daily Current-Argus, 7/8; Roswell Morning Dispatch, 7/9; El Paso Times, 7/9; Lincoln County News and Carrizozo Outlook, 7/11)

Albuquerque, N.M., morning

-- Mrs. A. W. Parks said she saw an object wobbling and headed in a northeasterly direction.  She described it as rather low and about the size of three office desks. (Albuquerque Tribune, 7/9)

Albuquerque, N.M., 11:00 am

-- Grace Boardwine and Johnny Nacarato, said they saw two discs weaving, dipping, and circling over the city.  Boardwine said there were also about 15 others with them that also saws the discs.  She said the discs looked like they were headed for El Paso.  (Albuquerque Tribune, 7/9)

El Paso, Texas, 12:30 pm

-- Dorsey White, assistant city building inspector, said he saw a disc approach from the north than veer eastward.  He described the object as very shiny and resembling a flattened egg.  (El Paso Herald-Post, 7/9)

*Roswell, N.M., afternoon (after 3:30 pm)

-- W.J. Schanz, a former Army Air Force instructor in aircraft recognition, and 5 others were baffled by three brilliant objects seen flashing across the sky.  Harvey Sparkman was the first to spot the objects after the others had been kidding around over the recent announced finding in Roswell of the so-called "Flying Saucer."  First there was one object followed by two others.   Schanz said he had seen every type of plane in existence and "the objects did not have any characteristics of any plane I have ever seen.  They did not seem exactly round, and rather than spinning through space, they appeared to somersault, with no definite pattern of movement."  They were traveling very fast, though their speed couldn't be estimated.  When they reflected the sun's rays, they were so bright it was difficult to look directly at them.  Other witnesses were Mrs. Raymond Jennings, Ed Jennings, Lawrence Jennings, and Linzy Andrews, all of the Jennings Fixture Co.  (Roswell Morning Dispatch, 7/11)

*Tucson, Arizona, unspecified time   (New--2007)

--William Holland, William Harman, and Lewis Zespar, a former Army Air Force pilot, observed an oval, metallic-gray object at an estimated 4000 feet above the mountains east of Tucson. It appeared to be about 25 feet in diameter and "wobbled" as it flew in a general north-to-south direction.  (Coral Lorenzen, The Great Flying Saucer Hoax, p. 7)

Nogales, Arizona (50 miles S. of Tucson), 5:30 pm

--Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Lamier and son Freddie said they saw seven "very shiny" discs flying in an easterly direction over the northern horizon.  Freddie was the first to see them and called his parents.  The discs were visible for about 5 minutes before fading out.  A few minutes later they saw a solitary disc heading west.  (Nogales Herald, 7/9)

Roswell, N.M., 8:25 pm

-- Mr. and Mrs. Joe Massey saw a brilliant object streaking across the sky in a northwesterly direction for only a few seconds.  Mr. Massey said the object was about 2 to 3 feet across with a flaming tail about 10 to 15 feet in length.  (Roswell Morning Dispatch, 7/9)

El Paso, Texas, 9:30 pm

-- Ottive Magill, U.S. Reclamation employee, said a "flying disc" came at his car while he was in the Lower Valley.  Magill said he ducked down with his dog as the object went overhead.  He heard a buzzing noise.  He said it glittered and appeared about 20 feet wide and four inches thick. (El Paso Herald-Post, 7/9)

El Paso, Texas, 9:40 pm

-- A "flying disc" was reported by 3 residents from two widely separated points in the city.  Neighbors Miss Dorothy Gillaspie and Mrs. Willy Mae Henderson saw a silver and then yellow-colored round object overhead.  Within a few seconds, the object faded out of sight over Franklin Mountain (north of El Paso towards Las Cruces, N.M.).  Independently and at the same time, Miss Ruth Miller reported seeing an object shaped like a silver dollar and having a grayish light pass overhead and then move out of sight over the Franklin Mountains within a few seconds.  (El Paso Times, 7/9)

Las Cruces, N.M.,  nighttime (twilight ended at about 9:50 pm)

-- Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Farmer with friends Mr. and Mrs Enoch Hughes and daughter Lilly saw a large light coming from the south (from direction of El Paso).  Mr. Farmer said the object appeared larger than an automobile head light and was traveling at a terrific rate of speed.  It left a tail similar to a comet.  As it traveled north between Las Cruces and the Organ Mountains to the east, it burst into three pieces.  Immediately search lights went up from the White Sands Proving Grounds east of the mountains and "searched the skies for an indefinite length of time."  (Las Cruces Citizen, 7/18/47)  [Las Cruces is only 30 miles north of El Paso and the El Paso sightings may be related.]

Wednesday, July 9

Tucson, Arizona, 6:22 am

--Mrs. Adella Williams said she was waiting for the bus when she saw a disc due south of her.  It was nearly as large as an airplane and going at a fast rate of speed. When she first saw the object it appeared round, but became elongated as it moved further away.  At first it was moving east, but then it banked and headed southeast in the direction of the Rincon Mountains.  About that time, the bus arrived and her sighting was cut short.  (Tucson Arizona Daily Star, 7/10)

Albuquerque, N.M., morning?

-- C. M. Conrady, Public Service employee said that he and six others at a cafe saw two of the discs.  Conrady reported that the first disc seemed to just hang in the sky at a standstill.  Then the other one came by at great speed.  The first disc then "gave chase."  Both disappeared to the south.  He guessed the altitude at 8000 to 10,000 feet.  The discs appeared to be 12 to 15 inches wide, very bright, and were in view for 10 to 15 minutes.  (Albuquerque Journal, 7/9)

Highway 70, 15 miles west of Roswell, N.M., morning

-- Mr. and Mrs. C. B. Brackley of Sweetwater, Texas saw a "flat, shiny round or disk appearing object" falling in the sky as they were driving towards Roswell.  "It rolled over and over," Mr. Brackley said, and finally fell about two miles south of the highway.  It was in full view for about 60 to 75 seconds.  (Roswell Morning Dispatch, 7/10; Albuquerque Journal, 7/9)

Phoenix, Arizona, noon

--L. C. Van Camp, an instructor in electricity at Phoenix Technical School, and about 30 of his neighbors, saw 3 of the "sailing saucers" darting in and out of clouds over the northeast section of Phoenix.  Van Camp said he had previously been a skeptic.  At first he thought they were birds, "but when I looked again, I saw that they apparently were flying discs."  He also thought they might be weather balloons, but the weather bureau at the airport said they weren't.  Also, the three objects were moving "east to west, against the wind, and entering and leaving cloud formations."  One of the neighbors had binoculars.  "Through the glasses," Van Camp said, "the discs appeared to be made of glass, and were spinning around.  They'd stop and go, disappear into the clouds, and then they finally flew away."  (Phoenix Gazette, 7/9, 7/10)

*Nogales, Arizona (SE Ariz, Mexican border unspecified time   (New--2007)

--Guy Fuller, Western Union office manager, police sergeant Pete Mincheff, Sam Marcus, and Arthur Doane observed objects there which they referred to as "flying tortillas." (Coral Lorenzen, The Great Flying Saucer Hoax, p. 7)

Douglas, Arizona (SE Ariz., Mex. border, 60 miles east Nogales), unspecified time  (New--2007)

-- Mrs. D. C. Kline and neighbors said they saw a silvery object slow down as it passed over the city as if looking it over.  (Nogales (AZ) Herald, 7/10; Flagstaff Arizona Daily Sun, 7/10)

Thursday, July 10

Douglas, Arizona, 11:45 am  (New--2007)

--Mrs. RL. B. Ogle reported seeing a small, bright object that "quivered" and appeared to hover in the area outside a downstairs window.  The object seemed to be about 7 inches in diameter and five feet above the ground.  (Coral Lorenzen, The Great Flying Saucer Hoax, p. 7, originally Bisbee Review and Douglas Dispatch )

*Near Fort Sumner, N.M. (80 miles N of Roswell), 4:47 pm [important Roswell-related witness]

-- Astronomer/mathematician/ meteor expert Dr. Lincoln LaPaz of the University of New Mexico, and his wife and 2 daughters, have a very puzzling UFO experience while driving near Fort Sumner. The UFO was bright, white, self-luminous, elliptical, well-defined, at first motionless relative to the clouds but wobbling in flight.  It then rose rapidly in the clouds.  Using makeshift triangulation to figure the distance to the cloud bank the object passed through, LaPaz calculated the object at 20-30 miles away, 160-240 ft long, 65-100 ft thick, horiz. speed 120-180 mph, vert. speed 600-900 mph. In his report to the Air Force, LaPaz wrote "The remarkably sudden ascent convinced me it was an absolutely novel airborne device." (LIFE Magazine, 4/7/52, NICAP's The UFO Evidence, edited by Richard Hall, p. 13) [LaPaz later conducted many secret UFO investigations for the Air Force in New Mexico.  New! According to some military intelligence officers, such as Earl Zimmerman, LaPaz, an expert in calculating meteor trajectories, was called in immediately after the Roswell incident to determine the trajectory of the Roswell crash object. ]

*Carrizozo, N.M., unspecified time

-- Mr. Albert Snow and Deputy Sheriff Mark Sloan sighted a moon-shaped object that was visible for several seconds and headed toward El Paso.  (Lincoln County News and Carrizozo Outlook, 7/11)

Las Vegas, N.M., 9:30 pm

-- Two Highlands University students, Keith McKinney and Lester Ball, said they saw a bright disc traveling westward at a fast clip.  It passed directly over Las Vegas at an estimated altitude of 1200-2000 feet.  (Las Vegas Daily Optic, 7/11; Portales Daily News, 7/11; Carlsbad Daily Current Argus, 7/11)

Friday, July 11

Yuma, Arizona, 2:30 am

--Mrs. Anna Potts reported her barking dog woke her and caused her to go outside.  She saw something "swooping down over the housetops and telephone wires."  At first she thought it was a bird.  But it was moving at high speed and was a "round, flat, white-colored object that was spinning."  It made no noise.  She followed it for five seconds before it disappeared over the housetops.  She added she didn't believe in the saucers before, thinking it was just people trying to get their names in the newspapers.  (Yuma Daily Sun, 7/12)

Silver City, N.M., 5:35 pm

-- Six Silver City residents reported seeing an incredibly bright, silver object, moving with unbelievable speed from west to east.  The sighting lasted only a few seconds.  The group agreed that the object looked something like a soap bubble, giving the appearance that it was almost transparent, and all mentioned the extreme brilliance of the object.  Witnesses were Mr. and Mrs. Fred Villio, neighbors Mr. and Mrs. Dave Robertson, and C. D. Grayless and Mike Morales.  Mr. Vilio said it appeared to be fairly low at first, but then seemed to go up as it crossed the horizon and disappeared.  (Silver City Daily Press, 7/12)

Douglas, Arizona (SE Ariz., Mexican border), unspecified time (night?) (New--2007)

--Mrs. W. P. Hopkins watched at the 15th Street Park an object that appeared disc-shaped with reflecting floodlights. (Coral Lorenzen, The Great Flying Saucer Hoax, p. 7, originally Bisbee Review and Douglas Dispatch )

Sunday, July 20

Clovis, N.M. area, 10:20 pm

-- Mr. and Mrs. Harry Kelly, Jr. of Clovis had their bedroom lighted up by what they thought was a low-flying plane.  When they looked they saw a "bright light" about 2000 feet in the air traveling west to east.  It was visible for about 20 seconds, then seemed to disintegrate and fade away.  9 miles to the east of Clovis and 3 miles north of Texico, N.M., Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Lee were driving on the highway when bright light flashed around them.  Mrs. Lee saw "a big round light" traveling south and not as fast as a shooting star.  She said it looked as big as a washtub, got the impression that the object was flat rather than spherical, and seemed to go out before it hit the ground.  A few miles across the border and one mile east of Lariat, Texas, Mrs. Naomi Stout of Texico said the countryside was lighted up by a bright object which seemed flat and "star-shaped."  She also said it went out before it hit the ground.  (Gallup Independent, 7/21; Roswell Daily Record, 7/21)

Tuesday, July 29

Socorro, N.M., night

Joe Wills, manager of a local theater, reported seeing a "flying saucer" over Socorro, such as seen in many other sections of the nation.  No other details.  (Socorro Chieftain, 7/31)

Late July or early August

Douglas, Arizona (SE Ariz., Mexican border), unspecified time (night?) (New--2007)

--About 25 people, including B. L. Fields, watched an object, which appeared as a cluster of small lights, circle the town ten times at great speed, finally disappearing with a burst of speed. (Coral Lorenzen, The Great Flying Saucer Hoax, p. 7, originally Bisbee Review and Douglas Dispatch )

Late August

*Alamogordo Army Air Field, N.M., unspecified time [ironic sighting involving Project Mogul and radar targets]

Communications officer Lt. H. C. Markley of the Air Materiel Command's Project Mogul, was watching

2 balloons carrying a radar reflector to the SE in 10x binoculars when he saw a high speed, round, white object in horizontal flight traveling at "an unprecedented rate of speed" S to N several thousand feet over the tops of the Sacramento Mts.. He lost sight of it after a few seconds.  Markely added that there had been other times when manning an optical tracker that he had seen round or flat-round objects that were "unexplainable." (Sighting report; Brad Sparks unknowns list [Sparks wryly notes that the case was falsely explained by the Air Force as "false radar targets" picked up by radar tracking, when this was a visual sighting and no radar tracking was involved.  However, the same sighting report notes that multiple stationary objects had indeed been picked up on radar at some other time at an altitude of 200 miles!]

Friday, August 22 (also about August 15)

Las Cruces, N.M., around 11:00-11:20 p.m (New! 2014)

Orren Beaty Jr., editor of the Las Cruces Sun-News, who had previously written a column July 1 skeptical  and mocking of the new flying saucer phenomenon, apologetically wrote a front page story describing his own sighting.  He started by emphasizing there were other witnesses, the paper didn't need advertising revenue, and he took a drunk driving test afterward to prove he wasn't intoxicated.  Alerted a week before by Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Calderon that they and others had seen strange lights swerving over the valley at a high rate of speed, just lights, not discs, searchlights or the aurora borealis (which was being seen in N.M. then), he was contacted again by them before 11:00 p.m. that the lights were back. Unlike the sighting a week before when it was clear, Beaty said there was an overcast with no stars, moon, or Northern Lights visible. "On at least six different occasions, all of us saw them.  Usually it was one light, but once we saw two headed south, apparently just west of town."  The one that came the nearest came out of the northwest and passed directly overhead.  It was small and high, a white, slightly blurry light.  It was too blurry to discern clearly, but he could make out it looked like a half disc, the semi-circular part in front.  It made graceful curves like a glider but was much too fast to be a glider.  He heard no noise.  (Las Cruces Sun-News, 8/24)  Five years later, during another national flying saucer wave, Beaty, now a reporter with the Arizona Republic in Phoenix, wrote another front page story about his 1947 sighting, stating again at the outset he thought he would be ridiculed and his sanity questioned.  This time he was awakened around midnight by a phone call from the man (presumably Mr. Calderon), who told him that he, his wife, and daughter, plus a neighbor or two were seeing the lights again. Meeting with them, they watched one or several "luminous objects" for about 20 minutes, going out of sight to the west, then coming back and disappearing to the east (or over White Sands Missile Range).  They only saw one at a time--no formation flying--but had the impression more than one object was involved.  He again noted the overcast and absence of stars.  There was no sound of engines and nothing like flapping motion, discounting the theory of some who thought they had seen birds. He gave a more detailed description of shape: "The front part was rounded like a saucer, the trailing edge had three prongs like a reversed parenthesis or a rounded figure 3."  When he soon moved to Phoenix, he was startled to see the resemblance between what he had seen and the object photographed by William Rhodes over Phoenix July 7, published in the Republic two days later.  Beaty noted that: "Rhodes photographs and negatives were taken by federal agents and have not been returned." (Arizona Republic, 8/2/1952--Thanks to Don Ecsedy, researching the Rhodes story, for the article)

New Mexico Area UFO Reports -- June/July 1947

Copyright 2002 by David Rudiak

Last updated on: April 11, 2014