The object appeared to be an egg-shape craft with no doors or widows resting on four silver legs. Near the strange craft, Lonnie saw two child size-figures dressed from head to toe in white overalls. One of the little figures caught sight of Lonnie and jumped, as if surprised to see him. Who, or what, could they be?

Lonnie got back in his car and radioed the sheriff’s office for help. When he looked up again, the two figures had disappeared. Lonnie heard loud thumps, like someone shutting doors. He approached the craft again and noticed a peculiar red symbol on the side of it. Before he could study it further, a loud blast filled the desert air. The craft began to rise from the ground, sending up a whirlwind of dust. The engine noise changed tone but sounded nothing like a plane. Lonnie dived for cover behind a nearby ridge. He thought the craft was going to explode. But it shot off like a bullet and vanished into the sky.

Police Sergeant Sam Chavez reached Lonnie just after the craft had blasted off. Some nearby bushes were still burning. The two policemen made a thorough search of the area. They found scorch marks on the ground, together with four dents in the soil where the craft’s legs had rested. They found five other marks that looked like footprints. Soon after this, another witness reported seeing an egg-shape craft. On April 26, Orlando Gallego saw one land at La Madera, New Mexico. Police officers found evidence of burning where Gallego said the craft had landed.

They also found four rounds prints in the soil, just as they had at Socorro. On April 28, an official team of investigators led by Dr. Allen Hynek came to Socorro To learn about what Lonnie had seen. Dr. Allen Hynek was a top scientist working for the U.S. Air Force on the project Blue Book (PBB). Project Blue Book was the U.S Air Force’s own file on UFOs. Between 1952 and 1969 the Blue Book investigators examined more than 13,000 reports and photographs of UFOs.

In Socorro, Hynek checked that no aerospace company was privately developing an egg-shaped airplane. His team also checked that the craft wasn’t a Lunar Exploration Module, designed to travel on the moon. Hynek described Lonnie as honest and reliable and believed he was telling the truth. Project blue Book labeled what he had seen as “unidentified.” To this day, it has not been explained.

Philip Brooks