Notes from a cosmic gumshoe — Dateline: The San Luis Valley
May 4, 1997
A busy day in the valley
Tuesday, Oct. 22, 1996, around 9 a.m.
![[Our alien advisor]](v8alien9.gif) Three workers at a construction
site, out in the Baca Grants, see "six fighters cookin' down the
valley (north to south)." Then, three peeled off formation and headed
directly south "toward Greenie (Mountain)." The other three continued
down the "VR" around Blanca Peak. Twenty minutes later a "huge cargo
plane" flew low over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains from south to north. Later, a small plane was seen flying low over the northeast corner of Baca Ranch. The workers thought it may have landed between Dead Man's and Sand Creeks.
7:45-8 p.m., central San Luis Valley
A bright orange light hanging over the
center of the valley is observed by myself and my brother Brendan.
According to another witness, writer/historian Pat Richmond, it had a
cigar-shape and did not appear to be moving. Richmond claims she has
been seeing the "same orange light," off and on, all summer.
8 p.m., Baca Grande Chalets
A fourth witness in the Baca looked up and
saw an "egg-shaped" sphere that instantly shot over the mountains. The witness
had the distinct impression that the object reacted to her "seeing it." One has to
wonder if folks are simply witnessing REAL extra-mundane phenomena, or
indulging their wishful thinking. I can't help but think they are
seeing something unusual. There were no known reports to the
sheriff's office of these possible early fall overflights of
the valley.
It's very tempting to jump to conclusions concerning these
"orange lights" hanging over the SLV. They are so common, I'd bet
we miss a lot of them. They blend into the sky so effortlessly.
They were jumping around!
Tuesday, Oct, 26, 1996, 7:30-8:45 p.m.
At Road 66T and Road T,
myself, Rocky Mountain News reporter Alan Dumas, and News photographer
Steve Nickerson were skywatching just inside the Baca Ranch when we
observed a solid, unblinking orange light appear fairly low in the
southeast, heading northwest. The object was traveling approximately 200 miles per hour. The craft did a loop and headed back toward the east displaying standard FAA
lighting.
Several minutes later, two craft, in formation, came
over the Sangre De Cristos from the east, headed west. One craft did a
loop, and headed back to the east. The other hovered for several
minutes over the Great Sand Dunes. Several minutes later, we observed
a formation of seven to nine lights flying over the La Jara Reservoir area.
Then, a bright orange light appeared out of the west, headed east. Craft
was unblinking. It headed east, turned and headed south. Then it turned
again and started heading north. It turned, again, and headed back
east. It did this zig-zag, box-type maneuver several times. When it
was finished, it seemed to greatly increase its speed and
disappeared directly south.
I really love it when visiting journalists gets to witness, first-hand, some
of our perplexing aerial phenomena! I made a point of describing to the two
of the what "they were most likely to see." I practically described their
subsequent sighting scenario! Even though they were jumping around
like little kids, Alan wrote in his Spotlight article a cool,
third-person, dispassionate version of their "unbelievable"
experience.
6:30 p.m. Crestone
Two witnesses see a
bright object, larger than a satellite, head over the mountains from
the east. The object appeared to "shoot" across to the west at a high
rate of speed. Witnesses said object could not have been a shooting
star because it went from a slow speed to an extremely fast speed.
Witnesses gauged speed by comparing to conventional aerial traffic
which appeared "much slower."
They're back in Eagle County
Saturday, Nov. 2, 1996 Burns, Colorado
Susan Nottingham, (referred to me by Todd Ingles of the Colorado
State Livestock Board) discovered an 1,800 pound, six
year-old, black-angus seed-bull laying on it's right side,
"mutilated," in a 60-acre pasture on a snow-covered portion of the
Nottingham ranch near Burns. The professional (15 years)
cattle-rancher noted that the animal's genitalia, rear-end, eye, ear,
and left-side of its muzzle had "obviously been sliced off." No
obvious cause of death apparent. A line of three 2-inch abrasions
were noted on the belly in front of the penile incision. A report was
made to Eagle County sheriff A. J. Johnson, who along with sheriff's
deputy James Van Beck and a local veterinarian, investigated the
case. There were no signs of a struggle and no additional clues
around the animal that lay in a "marshy section" of the pasture.
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At the many talks and seminars
where I'm invited to speak,
invariably someone
will ask,
"Do human mutilations ever happen?"
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Tracks indicated that coyotes had circled the carcass 25 feet away.
Scavenging birds showed an interest in the carcass but refused to land
near the animal and no bird droppings were observed on or near the
carcass. No unusual herd reactions were noted. Photographs and
complete sets of forensic samples were obtained along with complete
soil and flora samples. The rancher mentioned hearing a low-flying
helicopter in the early morning "a few days before" the animal was
discovered. No other reports of unusual activity in the area made to
the Eagle County Sheriff.
Please don't tell me THAT!
At the many talks and seminars where I'm invited to speak, invariably someone
will ask, "Do human mutilations ever happen?" Until G.S.
Schellhorn's "investigation" of the infamous San Paulo, Brazil case,
I would answer "I don't know, I've never heard of a documented case."
Now I carry those hideously gross autopsy photos to satiate the
curious and titillate the timid.
On Sept. 28, 1996, as fate would have it, I found myself at a
book-signing at the Taos Crystal Center when I was casually
introduced to an "ex-CIA scientist." He is now a private sector
consultant working on "electromagnetic and anti-gravitational
propulsion systems." He was very knowledgable about the so-called
UFO phenomenon and asked several very pointed questions pertaining
to more obscure cases from my mountains of San Luis Valley data. Then he
dropped a bombshell.
"Did you hear about the human mutilation down
near Silver City?"
"WHAT?! . . . You're kidding?"
"No, I'm not. A friend of mine in the (New Mexico) State Patrol told me about it. They
found a 16-year-old girl . . . just like the cows."
"When did this supposedly happen?"
"About three, three and a half weeks ago. (Right when Taos area mutilations
were being reported) They put the lid down real tight on it."
He told
me that these cases were not as rare as I might believe and that the
authorities were extremely careful not to let word of a case of this
kind out to the media.
"They made sure there is no record of the
death," he said.
The doctor is a very interesting man. We talked for quite a while about
his thoughts pertaining to the UFO question. His eyes twinkled when he
refused to answer any direct questions about our government's flight
capabilities, but he offered to talk with me at length in private.
"You've got a place to stay next time your down here . . . we'll talk. "
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In between these formations, around the
Hooper area,
I saw a bright, unblinking
orange light, five to six times the
size of Mars
headed west at a conventional
rate of speed.
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Busy nights in the valley
Fri. Nov. 8, 1996, between 5:15-5:25 p.m.
A very busy night started with
Crestone resident Marge Sanders and two friends out walking, and
noticed a "line of lights" on the western horizon over the northwest side of
the San Luis Valley. The "three white silver things" were strung out
around 7 degrees above the La Garita area. After several minutes
they moved to a vertical position, one on top of the other. After
10 minutes, the line of lights disappeared to the west and a fourth
light appeared to the north, hovered for a minute, then it also
disappeared.
7 p.m., Baca Grande Development
I was
driving out into the Baca Grants to watch the Tyson/Holyfield fight
when I noticed an unusual amount of conventional aerial traffic. I
stopped in the driveway of the house where I was headed and watched two
groups of two blinking lights headed east to west over the valley. Then I
noticed four other lights in a similar formation further south toward
Mount Blanca. In between these formations, around the Hooper area,
I saw a bright, unblinking orange light, five to six times the size of Mars
headed west at a conventional rate of speed. I alerted three other
witnesses who joined me outside to watch the orange light disappear
to the west.
9:30 p.m., Baca Grande Development
I went outside and
again noticed an unusual amount of conventional aerial traffic. This
time, four lights headed north up the range. Three lights over Poncha Pass were
headed west, and again, four lights were headed over the valley to the
west. Again, an orange light was observed headed west over the Hooper
area. I again alerted everyone, and they came outside to take yet
another look. The whole valley appeared ringed by these conventional
lights.
11:10 p.m., Baca Grande Development
I was leaving the Grants
when I observed what appeared to be extensive military
overflights of the valley. This time the 13 lights (total) were not
with an orange light.
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 1996, 6:28 p.m.
I received four calls, in quick succession,
reporting a "huge ball of white light" that fell straight down to the ground
for two to three seconds toward the southeast side of the valley. The object was described by
witnesses as "larger than a full moon." Each caller was positive the object
came down in the valley. The fireball was seen from the extreme northern end of
the valley to the Colorado-New Mexico border. One woman, south of Antonito, Colorado,
claimed she was sure "it fell right next to" her car.
The Alamosa Sheriff received two calls, Saguache County received 4 calls,
Custer County received a call, and the Colorado State Patrol received 2 calls.
NORAD and Peterson AFB received "no calls." Descriptions of the
object at the northern end of the valley said it was whitish-blue, but
as the various observer's location headed to the south, descriptions
were of a "rainbow color." The woman witness on the border claimed
she saw a faint trail behind it.
Christopher O'Brien
Sand dunes photo by Michael Lewis
About the author
Christopher O'Brien attended college in New York City from 1975-1980 where he was a mass communication major specializing in
audio/video and film production. In 1989 he moved to the San Luis
Valley, in south-central Colorado where he was hired as a consultant
and production coordinator for KHVT-TV, an independent San Luis
Valley communications company.
In 1992, he began a private investigation of unusual documented
events in the SLV which resulted in his book for St. Martin's Press, The Mysterious Valley (September 1996). His investigation into the
documented history of UFOs, unusual animal deaths, Native American
legends, cryptozoology, secret military activity and the folklore in
the world's largest alpine valley has already captured world-wide
interest.
Since 1993, he has written articles for Fate, UFO Universe, Leading
Edge, Cyberwest, the Crestone Eagle and Phenomena. His
investigation and research have been featured in the Denver Post,
Pueblo Chieftain, New Mexican, Rocky Mountain News,
Albuquerque Journal, Deseret News and Spirit Magazine. He's
appeared on hundreds of regional and national radio stations.
O'Brien has also helped develop, field-produce, supply footage and
appeared in four segments of the syndicated Paramount television
program Sightings, and appeared on Inside Edition, UFOAZ, KRDO News,
KKTV Mid-Day. He was featured in the TBS documentary "UFO: The
Investigators" (air date: Jan. 19, 1997). He is producing and
directing segments of the nationally syndicated paranormal-news
television program "Strange Universe," and is a guest lecturer at Adams
State College.
O'Brien is a fine-furniture maker and builds alternative homes out of
straw bales and other renewable materials. He makes his home in
Crestone, Colorado, where he is writing his next book,
"Saucer Full of Secrets: Inside the Mysterious Valley."
For more information visit The Mysterious Valley Home Page.
For a description of "The Mysterious Valley," click here.
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