May 4, 1997
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.
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."
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At the many talks and seminars |
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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.
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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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
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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