New investigation reveals that the likely culprits behind the Socorro UFO hoax in 1964 were part of a highly secret group of student pranksters at NM Tech. It is now learned that so extreme were some of these Techie "pranks" during the 1960s that they even caused physical endangerment. One especially sophisticated UFO hoax at that time led to the severe reprimand by U.S. military base officials of a Techie whose prank had caused the emergency scrambling of jet interceptors! This intensely private group existed at the College under various code names and leaders for decades.
A co-conspirator to many hoaxes at the NM Tech in the 1960s now details the remarkable "flying saucers" that were created by students during that time- and how they were made. A former Techie prankster offers a stunning clue about the true nature of the "aliens" sighted by Officer Lonnie Zamora. Other "insider insight" provided by NM Tech alumni furthers the case that the Socorro UFO was one of the most extraordinarily engineered hoaxes in history. This "extreme prankster" cabal reflects a technological "caper culture" that was unique in all the world and that has remained hidden- until now.
SOCORRO REDUX
OFFICER ZAMORA (LEFT) EXAMINES LANDING SITE WITH USAF
In April of 1964, Socorro Police Officer Lonnie Zamora reported sighting a landed craft outside of town. In pursuit of a speeder, Zamora was diverted by an explosion he had heard that led him over a hill. There he viewed an egg-shaped 20 foot in size craft the color of "aluminum white" that was "smooth" and which had a red insignia or emblem on its side. Zamora reported two small figures clad in white nearby the craft. Zamora says that the figures "jumped from view" and the craft rose with a roar and out of view.
In an earlier article by this author that can be viewed here, the discovery of a letter was related. It was written to Nobel-Laureate Dr. Linus Pauling. The letter was found buried within the Pauling Archives at Oregon State University. The letter was from Dr. Stirling Colgate, President of NM Tech in Socorro in the 1960s, Los Alamos legend and associate of such luminaries as Oppenheimer and Teller. Colgate wrote to his friend Pauling (who had taken an interest in the case) explaining that the Socorro UFO sighting was a hoax that "was engineered by a student who has left the college."
In an email to this author written 40 years after his letter to Linus Pauling, Dr. Colgate (who still maintains a Los Alamos office at age 84) confirmed the letter's authenticity and then stated a bit more:
- He knew the event to have been a prank. It was he called it, a "no brainer"
- One of the pranksters was in fact a personal friend of his
- That friend and the other students "didn't want their covers blown"
- He would see if they would now come forward
Dr. Colgate had no idea that his knowledge of the incident would be made public many decades later. He would never have imagined that his private communication to Pauling would be openly revealed. He was "caught" by me and had no choice but to reply- sparingly. Dr. Colgate is not "guessing" about this, a friend of his is the hoaxer. He writes with the certainty of a scientist. He is either 1) a liar 2) believes liars or 3) is telling the truth. There really is very little "wiggle" room to draw any other conclusion. I do not believe that Colgate would lie to his associate Pauling- and continue to lie about this to me in the winter of his life- if it were not true. And why would his personal friend (himself now elderly) continue to lie over decades to Colgate that he "and others" were the hoaxers? That leaves us only with option number 3- Colgate is telling the truth.
Two other noted NM Techies, Dr. Frank Etcorn (who is the inventor of the Nicotine Patch) and Dave Collis (who directed NM Tech's renowned Energetics Lab) related their understanding -gained from their lengthy time at NM Tech- that the Socorro UFO was in fact a student-perpetuated hoax.
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