From: www.dchieftain.com
Lonnie Zamora gained global fame in 1964, when in the hilly area south of Socorro the then-30-year-old police officer spotted an object he couldn't identify rise off the ground and fly away, leaving only depressions in the dirt, scorched earth and a lingering legend behind.
Zamora would be forever tied to a UFO sighting.
"He was well-known in Socorro, not because of the notoriety of that UFO incident, but more because of who he was and how he treated people," said Diana Martinez, his daughter, who called him "a friend to everybody."
Billy Romero, now police chief on the New Mexico Tech campus who served with Zamora on the Socorro police force, remembered him as a "very good police officer."
"He was real friendly to the people and always willing to help everybody, and he knew a lot of people," Romero said. "In fact on Sundays, we used to make it a practice to go visit people. We'd park the police car and have coffee with the elderly, stuff like that. He'd make that his PR day."
Dionicio E. "Lonnie" Zamora died Monday, at age 76.
Mass was celebrated at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7, at San Miguel Catholic Church in Socorro.
Zamora retired as the landfill supervisor for the city of Socorro about a decade ago. Before that, he worked as a court bailiff, and for 15 years he was with the city police department. He also owned a gas station in the city at one time.
The Magdalena native was a 23-year member of the National Guard and a renowned cook.
"He loved to cook," Martinez said. "He was a cook in the military, and he was sought after by many people — for weddings, fiestas, graduations.
"'Lonnie, Lonnie, can you cook for my daughter's wedding?' or 'Can you make me something for the fiestas?'" he was asked, with homemade macaroni and cheese, green and red chile, roast beef and meatloaf among his specialities. He loved to travel with his wife of 55 years, Mary, go to casinos and watch boxing and the Dallas Cowboys.
"To us," Martinez said, "he was the best dad ever. He made sure that we had everything we ever needed, even if it meant working two or three jobs. He was adamant that we go to school and completed our education."
Honest and straight-forward, Zamora was called "a stern, but fair" man who had mellowed in years as his grand- and great-grand children came along.
If something was needed, all one had to do was ask him, even if it was only for advice.
"He never told me what to do," she said. "He would make me look and see what my choices were and see what the results of my decisions would be. ...You just had to learn to live with the choices you made."
Zamora never regretted reporting what he saw near the end of an afternoon-evening shift on April 24, 1964.
"Because that was his job," his daughter said.
His life did change, though.
"If I can just forget about it, maybe it will go away," he was quoted saying a year later in an Associated Press story.
His report, the story recounts, had "stirred an Air Force investigation, subsequent sightings almost daily in other parts of the country and the declaration by an official of the International Lunar Society that earth again had been visited from another world."
Within the year after telling about what he had seen, Zamora said he received some 2,000 letters from people he didn't know "and says he has heard the term 'flying saucer' enough to last a lifetime," The Associated Press story said.
Here's Zamora's account, according to that 1965 story:
"(Zamora) said he had just let his partner out of their patrol for dinner a year ago today when he gave chase to a speeding car. Then he heard what sounded like two explosions and gave up the chase to investigate, finding what he thought was an overturned car in a wash on a hill.
"Two figures in white overalls were outside the vehicle, Zamora said.
"'Then a big noise started and it (the UFO) came up and hovered there. I could hear a loud 'bing, bing, bing.' I didn't know whether to shoot, start running or call back for help.'
"'I crouched down behind my car.'
"Zamora then called for help, and State Police Sgt. Sam Chavez arrived within two minutes. By then the UFO was flying off toward the mountains.
"'If he (Chavez) had just paid attention, he would have seen it,'" Zamora said.
"'I wanted to keep it to myself,' Zamora said. 'But Chavez made me report it. But if something like this should ever happen again, I'll know what to do.'"
Lawrence Romero, who served with Zamora briefly on the Socorro Police Department, said Zamora was a "trustworthy," "humble" officer who simply wanted to move on.
"Because it was rough in those days," Lawrence Romero said. "People questioned you and your integrity was in question when you said anything about unexplained mysteries, especially in the law enforcement" field, said Romero, who is former Socorro police chief and Valencia County sheriff.
A string of stories now give various descriptions as to what Zamora saw or what occurred: "an egg-shaped flying object," a rutabaga-shaped spacecraft," "there were two small figures standing alongside the craft."
"He never really talked about it," Martinez said. "If you would have known my dad, it was a subject that just really wasn't something he wanted to discuss."
Even if Zamora knew you well and was open to talking about it, she said, the right mood had to strike.
"It wasn't a matter of trust," Martinez said. "It was more a matter of privacy, and I think the fear of being ostracized."
Martinez said her father's life never changed because of the story. Over the years offers came from overseas or domestically to speak at various UFO-related events — Zamora even took part in interviews with the TV show Unsolved Mysteries and the Discovery Channel.
The requests to tell his story never ended, one coming just several weeks ago in Socorro.
"My dad said, 'Oh, they called me again. They wanted me to speak at the library,'" Martinez said. "But he didn't go. He didn't want to do it."
Along with his wife, Mary (Baca) Zamora of Socorro, Zamora's survivors include his sons, Michael Zamora; and Dennis Valdez of Albuquerque, daughter, Diana Martinez and her husband, Roland, of Albuquerque; sisters Manuelita Sedillo of Socorro; and Marcella Sisneros of Albuquerque; granddaughter, Theresa Recio; grandson, Anthony Recio; great-granddaughters, Adrianna Recio- Hernandez and Kassy Recio both of Albuquerque.
12th November 2009
Tribute To Lonnie Zamora
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