Radio interview with Lonnie Zamora

Days after the 24 Friday encounter, the Socorro patrolman is interviewed live in the studios of the local radio station, while a crowd of cars gathers outside and the Air Force investigators arrive to question him. n2This transcript is reconstructed from the automatic captions of a degraded AM recording. The reporter's questions are legible throughout; several of Zamora's answers are not, and are marked as such. It has not been checked against the audio by a human listener.

This is Walter Shrode, your roving reporter at KSRC Radio in Socorro, New Mexico. We have with us this afternoon Mr Lonnie Zamora, the Socorro patrolman that, while chasing a car, found himself in an area about two miles west of Socorro and one mile east of KSRC radio station, at which time he reports he came upon an unidentified object resting on four legs; that, as he drew closer, the object took off with a loud roar, shooting a blue-red flame, and disappeared in the sky. A great number of cars in Socorro, people have gathered here in front of the studios of KSRC to catch a glimpse of Mr Zamora as he arrived, and welcome him with their car horns. Mr Zamora, after coming upon this object, just what did happen?

I went up that little road for about half a mile, I guess. Came up to this little [inaudible] there on the side of the road. [inaudible passage] I've seen this white object on the ground, so I thought it might be a car that had turned over. So I [inaudible] going out there to investigate, thought maybe somebody would be hurt. At that time I saw this white [inaudible] about the size of that car.

And it didn't have any kind of markings on it, of any kind, that you noticed?

Yes, it did. Not from that far — I didn't see the markings. When I went up closer to it, I did see the markings.

And someone said that the markings that you saw was an upside-down V with three lines running through it. All right, we won't question you on that, and if we run into an area that they don't want you to talk about, you just say so. And this happened about 5:30 Friday afternoon?

Well, it happened about 5:50, about ten minutes to six.

And you did place the call in to Sergeant [name inaudible] n3Most likely Sergeant Sam Chavez, of the New Mexico State Police, who reached the site a few minutes after the takeoff to come on out and help you with the investigation?

[opening inaudible] Object — I didn't know what it was. I placed a call [inaudible] and he told me he would come out there and help me on this. He said yes, I'll be right there. [inaudible] A few minutes, and he arrived, just about two or three minutes after the object had taken off and left. Well, the object was still [inaudible] up there when he arrived. I was still [inaudible] the direction it went, but that was over the top of the mountain.

And we heard several reports that it flew low, or like it was dragging something.

It was very low to the ground at the time. I was seeing that it was very low to the ground, up to the perlite mill there, and then it started gaining altitude.

Now, it was also reported to me that when you first drove up into this area, the motors were running and there was a blue-blue or some sort of such sound as that. Is that correct?

[opening inaudible] Because it [inaudible] so fast, I started running. I was scared.

Well, I don't blame you, because I think something even scared me! Now, you did say that you saw two what appeared to be people dressed in white uniforms. Did they have helmets on, like spacemen or anything?

[inaudible] People — I just saw something [inaudible]. It looks like there was something in white coveralls.

All right, but you couldn't identify them as actually being a human being. And you didn't know whether they turned and saw you, or what?

[answer inaudible]

Did you have a chance to notice what kind of a doorway they had to this object?

Didn't notice.

And when it took off, it made a loud roaring sound, a very loud noise, roar or something, and then after it got up in the air about 20 feet the sound seemed to disappear?

The sound disappeared and was very, very quiet. You could hear a pin drop there.

Now, these markings that it left on the ground — the reports that I have had, and I haven't had a chance to go and take a look, and the winds have probably spoiled a lot of that anyway, was that they were deep indentations in the ground, approximately 10 inches wide and six to eight inches deep, about 15 feet apart. Is that a correct report?

Well, I'll tell you, about [end inaudible].

And were there any other prints, like footprints, around the area right after the takeoff, when you were making the investigation?

There were some prints, but I wouldn't know if there were footprints or anything. Just prints, I don't think.

You couldn't identify them as actually being a footprint — indentations like maybe somebody might have walked there?

[inaudible] Somebody walked around there, because when I got there was nobody [inaudible].

Now, according to a report on one of the news, the television stations in Albuquerque claim that they had a call just about 5:30 in Albuquerque about flying objects flying in this direction. Did you hear anything about that? Which, if that be true, means that someone in Albuquerque saw this object flying in this direction just prior to your sighting it, and which corroborates the fact that there was something here. Now, I get the feeling, at least, Lonnie, as with the people that I've talked to and they were out in the area, that they are quite sure that something landed there and something took off from this spot, because of not only the imprints that it had left in the ground, but the fires that it started, and the method by which the fire, or the power that it was using, kind of spread itself as it took off. Is that right?

Right. [remainder inaudible]

And what was your immediate reaction as soon as you realized that this thing might be an object from outer space?

Well, I didn't think it would be. Well, it was something that you've never seen before, and [inaudible]. What scared me was a loud noise and the flame that it had under it. It had a large flame then, as it took off. [inaudible] It was a blue-orange flame. I thought this object was going to blow up, and I started running back.

And did you notice whether these arms that it was sitting on retracted back into the object as it flew away?

[answer inaudible]

Are there any other things about this sighting that you think our listening audience might be interested in, or something that you'll be allowed to tell us?

[opening inaudible] From there on it went so fast that you could barely [inaudible].

Do you think we're going to get any more of them around?

I hope not.

Well, it was quite an interesting experience, I'm sure, and it caused an awful lot of comment. Did the investigators that were called in make any comments at all, in one direction or the other, with the exception of that they do not have any such object in this area? [inaudible passage] And there's been no report on the samplings they took of the area around there, from the burning brush and the area that the blast hit the ground, that might give them a clue as to what kind of power was being used on this [inaudible]. Well, I think I've just about covered it here. Let's see — it wasn't dragging anything? We had a report that it was dragging something as it landed. You can't think of anything else about this flying object that our listening audience might be interested in?

No.

Well, Lonnie, I'm sure you've been getting an awful lot of questions, a lot of inquiry, and I imagine you begin to get a little tired of it, actually, with so many people calling and asking you about it. Maybe this will be one way to keep too many people from it and you having to go through the story over and over again. Well, it's been a real pleasure talking to you, Mr Lonnie Zamora. This is the gentleman, the Socorro patrolman, that Friday at around ten minutes to six came upon an object, a flying object, an unidentified flying object as the government prefers to call them.

Second voice: Excuse me, Walter, I've got some military people [inaudible]. The military people are here from the UFO [project] to talk to you right now and to ask you some more questions about this, and they have not in any way tried to indicate that they didn't want us to.

We would be interested in knowing what they think about it, if they will allow it, and after you get through talking to them, if you call us back here at KSRC and give us some of the information that they might allow you to let us broadcast, we would like that. All right. And Mr Zamora, I hope that you don't come up on any more of these objects, and that we find out exactly what they are. So it's been a pleasure, Mr Zamora, having you in our studios, and we want to thank you, and I know our listeners thank you — and this is expressed by the great number of cars that are out here in front of our studio just to get a glimpse of what we might call a local celebrity right at the moment.