- Sometime during the mid 80's, a rumor began to circulate
widely among some "ufologists" about an "underground U.S./alien
base" near Dulce, New Mexico.
-
- The rumor had its beginnings in the late 1970s.
-
- With that fascinating thought in mind, in 1990 (the first
week of March of 1990, immediately after coming back from Nevada to help
produce a TV documentary on Area 51), a team of Japanese magazine and TV
crew and myself flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico and drove all the way to
Dulce to see if there was anything substantial to the allegation that there
was such a "base".
-
- We checked into the Best Western motel in Dulce. We
spent a few days there looking for the base (which was allegedly located
under Archuleta Mesa, outside Dulce). However, we could not locate any
such base, partly because some roads leading to the mesa were closed off,
due to the snow on the ground.
-
- However, in town, we interviewed many locals, i.e., the
Jicarilla Apache Indians, some of whom claimed to have seen strange lights
in the night skies and some military helicopters in that area, especially
during the late 70's to the early 80's. (While living in Phoenix, Arizona
in the late 70's, I remember seeing newspaper clippings on the Dulce "lights"
in various New Mexico newspapers which someone had sent me. But at that
time I didn't care that much to pursue it.)
-
- My conclusion, after being in Dulce, however, was that
there was nothing solid to substantiate any such allegations, at least
on the surface.
-
- The only curious thing that happened to us while in Dulce
was when we were detained by the Police Chief while interviewing people
on the street and taken to his office. (The Police Chief's last name,
if I recall, was Velarde, if I am not mistaken.)
-
- We were there at his office for about an hour and a half,
during which time he took down all of our IDs. We asked him why we were
being detained. Was it illegal to interview people on the street? Was
it because we were extremely curious? Was it because it was a strange
sight to see about nine Japanese men with TV cameras interviewing people
on the street in such a small Indian town?
-
- He didn't give us a straight answer. It was only at
the very end, right before he released us that he definitely said to us
that he didn't want to talk about it (the base) and that he didn't want
to have anything to do (or even be associated) with it. Indeed, to me,
it was a strange behavior.
-
- Outside of town, we also talked with some ranchers in
that area, some of whom claimed that some of their cattle had been mutilated
mysteriously, especially during the early 80's.
-
- So, what is my conclusion on all this?
-
- Although I tend to be a healthy skeptic on the alleged
Dulce "underground U.S./alien base", the fact that we were temporarily
detained at the Police Chief's office made me think about this whole matter
again.
-
- It has been 16 years already, since my first visit to
the area. I have decided to re-visit Dulce this March, towards the end
of the month.
- If anyone would like to join me, just e-mail me at:
-
- Area51watch@aol.com
-
- www.myspace.com/noriohayakawa
-
- Norio Hayakawa
|
