SOCORRO CURIOSITY
Anomalies in the New Mexico Desert
By Philip Mantle
In June 2007 I was invited to take part in a field trip into the New Mexico desert by an American colleague by the name of Ed Gehrman (Philip and Ed at the site). Ed is a firm believer in the authenticity of the Alien Autopsy film and he was of the opinion that he had actually discovered the location, the crash site if you will, where the events took place. I have to say here and now that I totally disagree with Ed on the authenticity of the Alien Autopsy film but that has been covered before by me and details can be located on my web site at: www.philipmantle.com.
We were joined on this field trip by Ed’s daughter Jody and her partner Dave. They, along with Ed were making their own independent documentary and were to film out in the desert as well as at the UFO festival in Roswell which we were to head to later.
After meeting in Albuquerque we set off to head for the location in the desert which probably lies closer to Socorro that it does Roswell. In fact it is the Nogal Canyon area. Ed had been at this site several times so he knew exactly where to go. What I can say about the site is that it is well and truly off the beaten track. I’m glad Ed had hired a 4 X 4 as at times it was a tough place to drive to.
It was a very hot day in New Mexico when we finally reached our destination in the desert. I have to be honest, Ed had described this place to me before and even sent me some photographs and it was exactly as he had described it. You reach a kind of canyon which has a dry lake or riverbed running through it. In front is a rock face with trees and bushes running up to it.
Location Photos
Photo 1 - Approach to crash site, through a large canyon over the hill.
Photo 2 - The crash site lies below the flat topped hill in the distance.
Photo 3 - Dry river bed leads directly up to and through the crash site. All Photos Copyright Philip Mantle
Before you get to the rock face Ed pointed out that that in just one area there are a large number of burnt rocks that are only burnt on one side. There are also trees that a burnt and just in front of the rock face is a large cottonwood tree that is also fire damaged.
Evidence of burning
Photo 1 - One of the many burnt rocks on the approach close to the crash site.
Photo 2 - Burnt cotton wood tree at the crash site.
Photo 3 - Close up of burnt cotton wood tree branch. All Photos Copyright Philip Mantle
The rock face itself is literally covered with bluish material that Ed’s brother had nicknamed ‘alien puke’ as it is splattered all over the place. Loose rocks here and there also have this material all over them. We spent quite a while at this site to take lots of photographs, film for Ed’s documentary and I took several rock samples to take back home. It is a most curios site I have to admit but I kept an open mind as to the possible cause of these anomalies and could not agree with Ed that this was the c rash site of the UFO that contained the creatures filmed in the Alien Autopsy film. If the Alien Autopsy film is a fake, which I’m convinced it is, then this by definition could not be a the crash site associated with it. It does not mean of course that Ed could have located a real UFO crash site. Leaving the site we headed to Roswell for the UFO Festival where I was to lecture at the International UFO Museum, and Ed, Jody and Dave were to carry on filming for their planned documentary. After a few days in Roswell we headed back to Albuquerque. I flew home to the UK and Ed and the rest drove back to where they live in California.
Upon return to the UK I wrote about the trip which was published in a variety of magazines as well as on my web site. The rock samples that I had brought back with me were stored away and remained so until the early part of 2008. Ed had previously had his own test on such samples and the bluish material had been identified as cristobalite. I made a few enquiries in the UK as to where I might get someone to look at the samples I had but I drew a complete blank.
In the early part of 2008 I was contacted via email by American UFO researcher Ronnie Milione in New York. Ronnie has a BS, MS and PhD in computer science. Eventually I mentioned to Ronnie in one email exchange that I had these rock samples from New Mexico and wondered if he knew anyone who could take a look at them for me. Ronnie didn’t hesitate and informed me that he had a friend at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in New York who would be wiling to analyze the rock samples I had. Three rock samples were sent to Ronnie Milione and the results came back in September 2008.
Photo of Ronnie Milione copyright Ronnie Milione
The samples had been analyzed by Dr R. Ronald Rau. Although retired Dr Rau still holds a position at the BNL as a Guest scientist at the Physics department. In two reports Dr Rau in the first report numbered: CNM-080108RAU details over 4 pages the radioactivy found in the samples. There is a lot of technical information contained in this report and I put it to one side to ask further questions. I asked Dr Ray via Ronnie Milione what he made of the bluish material that covered the rocks. The second report numbered: 080109RAU again is very technical but on page 4 under the heading of Final Comments it states: Analysis by x-ray diffraction has revealed the material is mainly a variety of cristobalite, a mineral in the tetragonal system which is a form of SiO2 – polymorphous with quart, coesite, stishovite and tridymite. According to the analysis, tridymite is found in moon rocks and meteorites, and tridymite alters into cristobalite when subjected to high temperatures, as micro traces found in these samples given by Ronnie Milione. As one would be the case when as stricken UFO disintegrates upon an uncontrolled, high speed entry into the Earth’s atmosphere could be this situation.
Alien Puke - Photos of the Cristobalite
Photo 1 - Close up of crisbalite material on the face rock.
Photo 2 - Loose rock collected at the site which is covered with cristobalite.
Photo 3 - Ed Gehman (left) and Philip mantle (right) stand in front of a rock face at the site. This rock face is covered in the bluish cristobalite material. All Photos Copyright Philip Mantle
To be perfectly honest I was taken by surprise by this last statement. Was Dr Rau saying that these rocks and the material found on them were caused by a stricken UFO ? I contacted Dr Rau and asked his to explain in layman’s terms the significance of the radioactivity measured and whether or not he really did think these were the results of a UFO crash. His reply in full is as follows:
“Hello Philip,
Thank you for your questions and working with my dear friend, Ronnie Milione. Ok to answer your questions lets answer you in two parts here.
1. In ref. to report CNM-080108RAU the reports basically is saying that there are small traces of radioactivity. The radioactivity traces was a measurable amount 238 U [which is the most common isotope of uranium found in nature] but is very surprising that it would be on these samples. The other micro-trace picked up was 214Pb [lead] and 214Bi [bismuth] which has very short half-lives but to my account this can be viewed as neglible. What is interesting is 238 U on the rock samples. This can be caused by a condition called Locard's Exchange Principle. This also can be explained in my second report [CNM-080109RAU] as the same phenomena.
2. Basically here is what Locard's Exchange does - "Every Contact Leaves a Trace". So when you have a huge high impact and high temperature yield you can a transfer of materials from the source to destination at the point of impact. For example from so-called ship to the surrounding area in that impact area can be very well the cause.
I would conclude that something very fast high temperature yield cause the surrounding area to exhibit the Locard's Exchange transformation.
Would I tag it a "UFO"......Probably because the unknown source is unknown!
If you need anything else please don't hesitate to write.
Sincerely yours,
Rau – Photo of Mr. Rau copyright Dr. Ronald Rau
Report Number: CNM-080108RAU - Laboratory Section / Page 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
Report Number: CNM-080108RAU / Page 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
Report Number: CNM-080109RAU / Page 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
These document images are large enough to print out.
So it would seem that Dr Rau is saying that it could well have been a UFO that caused these effects. I had fully expected his reports to offer a conventional explanation but apparently not. I hope to publish both of Dr Rau’s reports in full on my web site so you can read the technical details in full for yourself. I’ve taken the liberty of showing Dr Rau’s reports to a select few UFO researchers to see what the made of them. The reports themselves came via Ronnie Milione so it seems only right that Ronnie should be the first to comment on them. He is in no doubt “After reviewing Dr. Rau report on the rock samples submitted from Socorro, New Mexico I'm strongly convince that some object of high velocity, temperature and unusual extraterrestrial properties and radiation was exposed to the surrounding crash site and still to this day after more than 60 years left a unique signature of an "unknown object" that still mystifies the UFOLOGISTS of today and proof that the US GOVT still hides the truth!”
In the UK Nick Pope, formerly the Ministry of Defence’ UFO desk officer in the l990’s was intrigued by the results, he stated; "This looks to be a potentially very interesting and significant development, though further clarification needs to be sought on the question of whether a meteor impact could have caused the effect documented. More generally, widespread media and public acceptance of UFO-related claims is unlikely to be forthcoming unless such claims are underpinned by proper scientific analysis. By engaging with Dr Rau, Philip Mantle is doing what few in this controversial field of research have had the courage and foresight to do, namely taking the subject out of the fringe and putting it where it belongs - in the laboratory".
Back in the USA Ed Gehrman was delighted: “I'm glad you had this material tested but it
is just as I have always stated. The material is cristobalite. Cristobalite shouldn't be there in this quantity and spread in this manner. The material is not desert varnish, but covers desert varnish. I am 100% correct. Nogal canyon in Socorro is a crash site for the craft and creatures in the Alien Autopsy Film”.
I’ve sent Ronnie Milione a CD with lots of photographs of the site in New Mexico so that he and Dr Rau can perhaps get a better idea of what it looks like. For me I don’t quite know what to make of it. I take no credit for finding this location, that all lies with Ed Gehrman. I cannot agree with Ed with regards to the Alien Autopsy Film but has he stumbled on something out of the ordinary? Ed will be visiting the site again in 2008 and will collect more samples for analysis.
I’d like to thank Ronnie Milione for introducing me to Dr Rau and for passing the rock samples on to him for analysis. I’d also like to thank Dr Rau for analyzing the samples and for allowing publication of his reports. Of course there is a big thank you to Ed Gehrman for arranging the field trip in the first place. Ed and I may disagree but progress was rarely if ever made by agreeing.
Philip Mantle is an international UFO researcher, lecturer and broadcaster. He is currently the features editor for UFO DATA Magazine in the UK (www.ufodata.co.uk) and he can be contacted at:
philip@mantle8353.fsworld.co.uk
Web site: www.philipmantle.com