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Newly declassified FBI records from the 1964 Socorro, New Mexico, UFO incident describe a police officer’s report of a landed object and physical ground impressions, according to documents released under the U.S. Department of War’s PURSUE archive.
The FBI document, titled “65_HS1-834228961_62-HQ-83894_Serial_438,” was released on May 8, 2026, and provides a detailed account from Special Agent D. Arthur Byrnes Jr., who was stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico. According to the file, Byrnes was at the State Police Office in Socorro on business in the late afternoon of April 24, 1964, when he learned of an incident involving Officer Lonnie Zamora.
The record states that at approximately 5:45 to 5:50 p.m., Nep Lopez, a radio operator in the Socorro County Sheriff’s Office, entered the State Police Office and advised M.S. Chavez of the New Mexico State Police that he had received a radio call from Zamora. The call requested assistance at an area about one mile southwest of Socorro, in relation to an unknown object which “landed and has taken off.”
Byrnes proceeded to the site around 6:00 p.m., where he found Zamora, Socorro County Undersheriff Jim Luckie, Sergeant Chavez, and Officer Ted Jordan assembled. The FBI agent noted that he had known Zamora intimately for approximately five years and described him as “a sober, industrious, and conscientious officer and not given to fantasy.” The document states that Zamora was “perfectly sober and somewhat agitated over his experience.”
At the location, Byrnes observed four indentations in the rough ground. The FBI report describes these depressions as “regular in shape, approximately sixteen by six inches rectangular,” each appearing to have been made by an object entering the earth at an angle from a center line. Each depression was approximately two inches deep and pushed some earth to the far side. Inside the four depressions were three burned patches of clumps of grass, while other clumps of grass in the same area appeared undisturbed. One burned area was outside the four depressions.
The document also notes three circular marks in the earth, described as smooth, approximately four inches in diameter, and penetrating the sandy earth approximately one-eighth of an inch “as if a jar lid had gently been pushed into the sand.” The FBI file states that no other person was noted in the area the night of April 24, 1964, and no other objects were observed that could be connected to the incident. The report adds that there were no houses or inhabited dwellings in sight of the area.
Context of the FBI’s UAP Records
The document is part of the FBI’s 62-HQ-83894 case file, which includes investigative records, eyewitness testimonies, and public reports concerning Unidentified Flying Objects and flying discs documented between June 1947 and July 1968. According to the official description from the PURSUE archive, the file contains high-profile incident accounts, photographic evidence from sites like Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and technical proposals regarding potential propulsion systems. The file also includes convention programs, researcher accounts, and extensive media coverage from the period.
The PURSUE archive notes that this file was previously partially posted on the FBI’s public Vault website with more redactions and some pages missing. The version released on May 8, 2026, is described as the complete case file with several newly declassified pages and only minor redactions.
Per a Wikipedia summary of the United States UFO files, these records are part of a collection of declassified government documents concerning UFOs, also called unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs). The Wikipedia entry notes that the releases were initiated by the administration of Donald Trump beginning on May 8, 2026, and were announced to continue as repeated, ongoing, expanding releases of UFO materials.
What Remains Unanswered
The FBI document explicitly states that it “contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of any kind.” The record provides no explanation for the physical marks found at the site, nor does it identify what Officer Zamora reported seeing land and take off. The file does not include Zamora’s own direct testimony, only the observations relayed by Agent Byrnes.
Readers should watch for future PURSUE releases, which may include additional pages from this case file or related documents that could shed light on the investigation’s findings. The FBI’s official description of the broader 62-HQ-83894 file indicates it contains extensive materials from a 21-year period, suggesting further details on the Socorro incident and other cases may emerge in subsequent declassifications.
