To exemplify the definition of the term, "when all hell broke loose," we need only remember April 24, 1964, the day when patrolman Lonnie Zamora allegedly had a somewhat close encounter with a landed UFO in Socorro, New Mexico. A roughly egg-shaped object with strange markings on the side, small beings on the ground who scurried back inside, a terrific roar and flame as the thing ascended quickly and shot out of sight, apparently just missing a dynamite shack, and landing marks on the ground where vegetation continued to burn 24 hours after the event -- this incident had it all. National news headlines could barely hold the volatility of this incredible report as details exploded and shot like missiles to news agencies all over the world.
The Socorro event was hardly an isolated incident, however, as NICAP and other organizations, began receiving sighting -- and encounter -- reports nonstop. In response, as May, 1964 arrived, NICAP issued to members an alert about the Socorro case, and also dispatched postcards intended to capitalize on media attention. NICAP, we must realize, was very much a lobbying organization, in addition to serving as a profoundly effective UFO investigative entity, and when UFO publicity was high on the public mind there was no better time to "strike while the iron is hot" to increase public, and especially, Congressional attention.
Also mentioned is NICAP'S The UFO Evidence, an amazing 1964 report on the verge of publication, under assistant director Richard Hall's brilliant editorial supervision, which would be sent to every member of Congress in 1964. Filled abundantly with important military, government, airline pilot and other UFO reports to confound conventional scientific explanations, this NICAP document remains one of the top publications ever released about the UFO enigma.
For more on the Socorro incident, consult the nicap.org website and other reliable sources. Note, too, that Wendy Connors' Faded Discs (see link above) project offers digital recordings containing audio recordings of principal players in major UFO cases such as the Socorro incident.
