Colorado's Mysterious Valley, Part I
But what makes the valley so strange and full of tales is not only it's unique geographic and geologic wonder, but an unusual number of strange stories from the residents that live there; stories that range from strange lights to unusual and unexplained activity. Perhaps more than any other single spot on earth, the San Luis Valley has been the scene of thousands of UFO sightings. It has the dubious honor of being known as the capitol of cattle mutilation mysteries, where the first highly publicized animal mutilation occurred in 1967. A high number of animal mutilations continue today, and in spite of an FBI investigation, the elusive answer to this mystery continues to evade simple explanation.
The region has been officially marked by the U.S. Air Force as a "Military Operations Area", where military aircraft perform mock missions and other maneuvers on a regular basis. The extent of these operations are unknown, but military officials report the area was selected based upon it's sparse population and the mountain ranges that surround the valley, which allows aircraft to drop into a radar-blind zone to avoid radar detection.
Nearby is Dulce, New Mexico, home of the Jicarilla Apache Reservation, and the rumored location of a government scientific laboratory specializing in bioengineering and genetic science. Just south of the valley, near it's arrowhead point, is Los Alamos National Laboratory, birthplace of the atom bomb and the nuclear era. Not far to the west, in eastern Utah, is the rumored relocation site for Area 51, the top secret military reservation in Nevada that never officially existed.
In spite of the large number of secret military and scientific operations in and around the San Luis Valley, the most convincing evidence of "something strange going on" comes from the thousands of eye-witness reports by valley residents. During peak periods of phenomena-activity, it's not unusual for a dozen or more sightings per night to filter in to local law enforcement offices and to radio stations and newspapers of the region. Many valley residents have actually formed a reporting network, telephoning each other every time they spot an unusual sight in the sky or experience an unusual event.
Christopher O'Brien is a valley resident and author of several books on the mysterious valley. He serves as an official reporting station; a contact who residents throughout the large region can call and report a sighting. Because of the geographic properties of the valley,
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