Image: Lonnie Zamora-tuig van 24 April 1964 te Secorro, NM, a

Description: Model of the craft observed by Lonnie Zamora and Sam Chavez at 17:50 on 24 April 1964 at Secorro, NM, USA, superimposed on a scene of the New Mexican desert.   Zamora first observed the craft from 850 ft (260 m) before parking his car only 50 ft (15 m) away,[1] and walking still closer.[2] On the ground the craft's horizontally elongate, and almost ellipsoidal fuselage[3] was aligned in a NW-SE direction. The four landing legs supported the craft in a level (not tilted) position, despite measurements of their imprints which suggest a somewhat asymmetric configuration.[4] This is interpreted as self-leveling landing gear which compensated for the uneven terrain. The tracks suggest that the gear on the "lower" side reached further to touch ground than those touching the higher terrain.[4] Zamora mentioned that he observed two "young boys" or "small adults" beside the craft in white coveralls.[5] They were standing perhaps 1/3 as tall as the craft itself. While Zamora observed no door on the craft, he did hear three sounds, perhaps of something slammed shut or retracting, moments before the roar started. As Zamora approached it on foot the craft lifted noisily off the ground to 20 ft (6 m) in about 6 s.[1] As it rose, it emitted a blue funnel-shaped flame of a particularly brilliant hue which was 3-4 times longer than wide. The craft departed on a very low trajectory in a WSW direction, while temporarily emitting a winding down turbine or oscillating sound. The red insignia (some suggested this to be the door[4]) was near the middle of the craft, when seen from the side.   Inaccuracies: 1. While accepting the "ᕬ" symbol, its accuracy may be improved. The latter symbol is the one that Zamora sketched on four occasions, thrice with his signature to it. The first of these signed sketches was made 5 minutes after the sighting,[6] though it has been questioned why this was done on a piece of scrap paper. A day or two after the sighting Walter Shrode suggested the "₳" symbol on radio, which one may assume to be the decoy, as the actual symbol was then secret. The "₳" symbol was widely relayed, and if it were the original, there could have been no secrecy involved. R. Stanford holds however that Zamora drew the "ᕬ" symbol only to please the authorities,[1] and accepts the "₳" symbol drawn inaccurately by J. A. Hynek on 7 September 1964. Stanford's communication with R. T. Holder jr leaves one none the wiser.[5] 2. The orientation and structure of the landing legs are inaccurate. They were girder-like and positioned in the four cardinal directions, not askew as shown, and the landing pads were not rounded. 3. The craft was more elongate than shown.[7]
Title: Lonnie Zamora-tuig van 24 April 1964 te Secorro, NM, a
Credit: Own work, using New Mexican desert - panoramio.jpg by M Thomson, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
Author: JMK
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Attribution Required?: Yes