PJK_MultiplyingTourists

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THE SOCORRO UFO CASE

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AND ITS ''IIULTIPLYING MISSI}IG TCURIST HIT ESSES''

Four days after police office!' Lonnie Zamor:a repo)rted seeing a UFO on the out-skirts of Socorro, N.M, on Apr, 24, 1964, the local newspaper (EL Defenso? Chieftain)caFied an account of alr itinerant tounist witness whose story seened to confisnZamora I s storjr and to dispell doubts that it night be a hoax:

'?t .Least one othet irerson -- aI, unidntj fied tourjst traveLiag notth onU.S- 85 -- sa'' tlre uIl? j.ist befote it ianded in the giullg. opal Gzindet, aE nagezof the wbidnq B:rotiets' Serrzicc Station on 85 norf,l. sajd the nan stoplted at thestatior and tet'.tked tlat airctaft fTetr lar around he!e.

"crinder tepTied there rere nang heii@ptezs in t}tjs vicinitg. fte touristsaid jt was a 'tunng-Looking hd.i@ptet, if ttrat's h'hat it Has.' ?ie nar| sajdfurtiejt. thd object had fToyn over ils car" rt acttlal"l"g was headed sEaighx fort!:e 9u1-19 ,rhete it Ianded EoEnts .latet. ?he tourist a-lso coraented t]lat }]e hadseen a plice car heading up tlre bj-ll. ?his rl,as Zanbta's cat."

l{hen Dr. J. A].Len Hynek visited SocoFa, at USA| r?equest, on Ap:r. 26-27 to investgate the incident, he personally talked with Leris A. Reddell, publisher of the Localnewspaper., who had inteleiewed Gninder and had m:itten the a::ticle about the alleged'titilerant tourist-nitness. " liynek noted -in his tnip r:'eport to the USAF that ReddeLl"had gone into this t'jliry quita tbroughJg."

Sgt. David Moody of P:roject Blue Book, uho had been on temporatJr dulr assi.gnrnentat Kintland A!'8, N.M. at the tine of the Socomo incident, and had visited the ar.eafor an on-site investigation several days later, made a tel-ePhoDe cafl on May 18'1964, to talk to opal G::inder about the al-Ieged "itinenant tourist-witness. " Moodyld'rote a memo, no!, in the Project Blue Book files, reporting the highlights of hisconver?sation with Grioden:

"He (ctini/'t) coul.d give rp infot1ron otlrer that tiat appearit g in thdn*sl,apet atticla. Ee dii'?oX_Eggg4-! llqrype of cat ot Ticense. Ee assur.dthe occldpant. IriolE use of singaLatl ttas going or returl ing fta vacatian dueto the Tugqaqe and cl l4igg in t&-94L. The cat h4it a slnELe occupEgit. Eestated that tlte tr,i taess sajd t'Ia objet canc f.rrn the East... He wi1"7 he on tlre-loolc-out jn case ttle t'j tacss retut7rs to Socg.rro." (Empha.sis adited. )

0n Aug" 15, 1961t, Dr:. Hynek retu:rned to Soe-orro for fu::tha:r investigation andhe personally interriewed Grinder about the rritinerant tourist-r.itness . rr- Hlrnekr sofficial fr:ip repont to the USAF contained the folLowing account of his interviexwith Grinde:.:

"we heard the stotg of the tolrtist f!on Grinder hj![self. ?lle titE nassl ttTtl befote 6 o'clack Decause Gtindet said that }e was lurrginq to get toL]le bar-k befote it cTosed at 6 p.m. on that Fridag. tle stated ttrat tllis vras oneof the teasons whg he did not pag nore attentjot to tlle tourist's storg. uoerevet.he said that tie tourjs! said sozet}.ing xo this effect: 'qout planes flg awfaTTgLov. hete -- one of then Lik& tn knock ne off xhe road iust about ethen I '|aspassing vour whixing sigm coming into tovn.t ?he Whixing gas sign is airps tin Line vith the gu7]V vhete the cratx -Zanded-..fl2e tourjst said that he tlpughtthat it night be a craft in troubl., and figuted this ras so .because he sai aI.Tice car going out xaward, whete it hait Landed. *ri s wouTd place xhe tiag ofthe craft ovet the xoutisx's cat at app!.dri'Etelv 5:35 ot 5140 p.a- This caia:cides, as we7l. as we can see, vith the titE that zatuta was chasing a speder.'(Enphasis ailded. )


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Du::ing the period irnrnediately foLloring the Socoro incident, the ::ecord sho'esthat $hen Opal Gr:inder was inte:rviered by the J-ocal newspaper ' by Sgt. Hoody and byHynek, he repo:'ted only a siagle "tourist-ltitness " and he couLd not recall any mo?edetails about the rnan or: his cal.

YET ON JAN, 8, ].967, NEARLY THREE YEARS LATER, GRINDER SEtr{]T{GLY HAD A HIRACULOUSENHANCEI,IENT IN HIS I'IE!{ORY. ON THAT DATE, GRINDER SIGNED A SWORN STATEI{ENT IN IiHICHHE CTAIMED THERE I'ERX REALLY FIVE (5) UTO IIITNESSES IN TTIE CAR THAT STOPPED AT HISSTATION 3

'J, the andersigned., ila sole'E,Jg srear t&at on Ftiilag, AptlT 24' 7964, atatounil 5:50 to 6:00 p.m., theie attjved at the t*titing 8ros. servjce station...what I am positive was approximatel.g a 7955 rndeT gteenish cadiTTac ' b'hich b,asdtiven bg a faizTg tal-l nan ot neditlln bui7d, sanilg hair. Eis vtife, ana, I thi*thzee children (a77 bogs. the oTilest of which appeated 11, or f2 geats ot age)wete in te car with hin... Mg son, Jiseg ' also set the afote-EEntioAed fivepetsons, overhcatd t&e conesrsation, and thinjcs lre rerefibers tieir ca! had acoTotado license p7ate. [Reca]-] that two years eanlier, Gr.inder: tas quoted assaying that he deduced that the nan r.as "going on ::eturning from vacation dueto the luggage aad clotbing in the ca:r." If the car contained bags and cloth-ing in the passenge? coflrparrtecnt where woul,d the five passengem find space?l

"JiwnJ anit I diil ,Et think too nuch alotrt tl:er man's tel'o.rt, becaase ve had. notget hea.zil of t,lrr,,l.e zafrta's Iwol teIr.rt. As soon as re heard vhat Lo.nnie hadseen, we kn* the tonrjsts vlF hail stopt'd bg out staxioa tu.'t trav see', tbeob1*t zafuta sar heading tor a Taailitg r'n tlre ravine.

"4rat js whv f repotted t}re incident ll:l tI t.'le toutists -- because I wantcdpeopTe xo knoe that otier ]rersons sa* t}e sarc object lannie zamata sav. Ia tiewasn't Just 'seeinq things.' "

T}ERE IS PHYSICAI EVIDENCE TO D]SPUTE GRINDSRIS STORY THAT A LONE TOURIST. OR A CAR

, as he aLlegedly was I'hu::'rying to get to the bank befor.G it closed."

The r.adio log shosed that Lopez did not recsld the first call f?co officen Zatro:Fawhen he called in to say he iras going to investigate flane and snpke atop the resasouth of tor.!, learr the Mayor I s dynaite storage shack. Non did Lopez 1og the secondcaLL f:rorn Zarnora wheu lre had anived atop the nesa and called in to say he thought hesaw a white ovsr-tuned car in the distanea.

But toPez did log the thind r:adio rnessage fron ZanoLa, because of its importance.This lras when he ca]]ed in to report that an egg-shaped object had flown off ald whenZamora asked that state Police sgt. san chavez be sent out to the site, TlfE LopEzLOG SHoils THAT THIS ZAI{0RA HESSAGE }'AS RECEIVED AT s:22 p.M,

The los a].so shows another radio message was received about tlro ninutesne J.og also snoHs anotner radro hessage lras ?ecerved about tlto ninutes later,logged in at 5:24 p.m., indicating that Chavez, FBI Agent A:rthur Burnes (',rho had beenin Chavez office when the 5:22 p.m. nessage came in) and Deputy Sheniff James Luckie,had all reached the ',UFO site."

THAT EVIDENEE IS THE LOG OF I},!PORrA T RADIO MESSAGES RECETVED BY POIICf, R{DIO OPERATSRIu-IEEnqEgR


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lopez estimated that the first radio call. fr:om Zamor"a had been received atapproximately 5:I7 p,n. This would a11ow five ininutes fron the time that Zamorareportedly abandoned his chase of a speeding motorist until he aFived at the 'IUFOsite," afier naking one inter'rnediate stop and nadio cal]-in. Having personally ::e-traced Zamora I s path and reported actions during my visit, the Lopez estiuate seensquite reasoDable.

But if Zamora!

s account is true, and he caLled iu at approxinately 5:17 p.m. to:repo::t seeing flame-snoke atop the mesa, ,then it is clea:r that if t5ErE-iEEl$:[-as@Encounter:with the UFo flying ove:r his car as he dr:ove north on highway 85 must have happenedno later than 5:17 p.n.

The distance frot the spot on highway 85 where the alleged UFO lrouLd have florlover the al]eged toutist-nitness car to the Whiting Brothers station is less thanf*o rniles. r*ith onlv a s ht 1ONS thE rOUtE. IF THIS ALI,EGED TOURIST-

HIM }TO LONGER THAN FIVEl.l IIruTES T0 P,EACH TIIE HHITIIIG STATION--0R liO LATER THAN 5:22 P.M.

Considering that the only bank in Soconro is less than five minutes d:rive fro:nthe Whiting station, it could not be true that the alleged tou:rist-ritness stoppedat the station "shoritLy befotre 6 orclock because Griade:r said he was hunrying to getto the bank befo:re it closed at 6 p.rn. on that Fridayrrr as Gninder r:epol:tedly toldHlmek; no? "alound 5:50 to 6:00 p,rn.rr as Gninder states iD his sworn statement.

The!'e a! other lreasons to question Grinde:r t s storyof the alleged tou.ist-witness ( es ) . Exanination of themap belo$ shoHs that the road on lrhich Zarnola reportedlywas driving in pu:rsuit of a speeding motorist in a south-southeast di:rection, intersects highway 85 neatr wher:ea UFO wouLd have passed enr"oute to the "UFo site.r' Ifthe tourist-Hitaess sto{r were true, the UFO would haveflown di:rectly ac:foss Zamo:ra's

line-of-sightas he

looked SSE towatrl thc aLLeged speeding notorist.YET ZAMORA NEVER REPOR?SD SEEING A UFO FI,Y ACROSS

HIGHTIAY 85 TOWARD TIIE I1ESA.

Ooe possible explanation fo:r this disc?cpancy couJ.dbe that the allegcd toulist sightiag occu$rcd e raiDuteor: two before Zarnona ar:::ivcd on the scene and befor.e hecal-led l-opez to say he planned to dnive up atop the msa.

But if this wenc the case, then anothen part of theal-Ieged toulist-titness story carnot possibly be tme.Gninden, in his sworn stater ent, says the a.Lleged torc-ist witness said "f sav a plice ca, heaal oft tlte toad.atd up a hi77 in that direction. Coming on into torrrtI met anothet plice caj,^ leading that wag.-."

If Zamora had not yet arr:ived on the scene, thealleged tounist-nitness could not have seen his canheading up the nesa, nor: could he have seen the Chavezor Luckie ear heading out until some tine after 5:22p.m,, by which tine the alleged tour.ist-witness wouldaLreadv have :'eached the }{hitinp station.

!.;'llhiting StatiJust North of ']HarA

Car Cli.tT'bs,;j


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