UFO Landing Site

Socorro, New Mexico

I stand in a shallow arroyo on the outskirts of Socorro, gazing at the ground. Four piles of gathered rocks (two or three of them roughly circular) in a shallow, dusty arroyo -- is this what I have come all this way to see? This is supposedly the spot where police officer Lonnie Zamora witnessed a UFO landing on April 24, 1964, and these rock circles mark the four indentations left after the spacecraft touched down and took off again, scorching the surrounding brush in the process. Have I been had? Either this is incredibly important evidence of contact with another civilization, or just a stupid waste of my time. Did the aliens come all this way just to leave behind this scant evidence? For years, the town of Socorro has hatched plans to improve the site and draw in the tourist dollars. With the tinfoil-hat mecca of Roswell right here in the same state, who can blame them? But I find no improvements, no context ... and no other visitors. I gaze around at the lonely high desert stretching into the distance; somewhere in the sound of the wind I hear a Lotaburger chocolate shake calling my name. I begin the walk back to my car, another Bizarre Backroads mystery logged but not solved.

Site Overview -- Arroyo with rock circles		Site Overview -- Four rock circles		Rock Circle # 1 in foreground, # 2 in background
Rock Circle # 2 in foreground, # 1 in background		Closeup of Rock Circle # 2		Closeup of Rock "Circle" # 3

Directions: West of Interstate 25 exit 147. Take Fairgrounds Road 0.4 miles south from High School Road, turn right (west) on dirt road to Baptist Temple. In 600 feet, the main dirt road curves into the temple parking lot; park at this curve and walk straight west on the the much rougher dirt road that continues to the north of the temple buildings. 200 feet beyond the temple buildings, the road dips through a shallow arroyo; the rock circles are in this arroyo about 50 feet to the right (north of the road). Google Maps satellite view.

Last visited: April 2010.

Standard disclaimer: Sites are described for entertainment purposes only, as they were at the time of my last visit. I can not vouch for the current condition of the site or its accessibility.