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Enter the Valley

St. Martin's Press

A VALLEY FULL OF SECRETS

Whether you're a hardened skeptic or a true believer, you have to admit that we live in a strange and mysterious world. There's little doubt that our reality inspires, awes, and even frightens the human species into addressing energies and events that we have not yet begun to define or explain. I personally believe, unquestionably, that something strange and wonderful is going on around us, and it probably always has been. "It" doesn't happen often, but invariably our mundane lives provide us with direct contact with these mysteries, sometimes so irrefutably that we're compelled, almost forced, to seek answers. Or hide our heads in the sand. Some of these events are as simple as thinking about a friend, and ring, he calls you on the phone, or as complex as the "alien abduction" scenario.

Human history is rife with examples of philosophical and scientific jump starts: Plato's Republic, Galileo's and Hubble's telescopes, Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, Bell's Theorem, etc. We may even have a genetic compulsion or predisposition to explore the farthest boundaries of our reality in an attempt to explain the last dwindling secrets hidden from the light of truth. This has always been so, and this propensity doesn't appear to be ending soon. The very fact that you are reading this book is an indication that you are intrigued by these subtle aspects of our so-called consensus reality. This book attempts to provide a different context for examining these last remaining scientific and sociological mysteries.

UFOs, abductions, unusual animal deaths, religious miracles, the motivations of serial killers, psychic powers, strange fantastical creatures, ghosts, undefined natural phenomena, treasure legends, folklore, secret government activity, indigenous people's myths, to name a few, are but a modest sampling of these sensational riddles puzzling the curious people worldwide. On the surface, these phenomena seem unique unto themselves, separated by time, circumstance, and distance.

Unbelievable as it may sound, the above sampling of phenomena are found in a single, well-defined geographic location. Welcome to the San Luis Valley in south-central Colorado/north-central New Mexico. There may be no other place with the variety and intensity of examples of "the unexplained" in all of North America. And it is all occurring above seven thousand feet at America's rooftop. One could literally call this wondrous place "the high ground."

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Sacred sites exist, in one form or another, worldwide. The pyramids of Egypt, Central America, and China; the megalithic structures in the Peruvian Andes; Stonehenge; the sites of Fatima and Lourdes; the great temples, shrines, and monasteries of the East ... The list is impressive and so are these sites, which have always been considered special and important locales. The perception of these specific locations as holy places often survives the downfall of one civilization and the rise of another. Most, if not all, of the great European cathedrals, for instance, were built on important pagan holy sites. Many are located where Druidic rituals and observances were conducted, in particular, sacred oak groves.

There is quite an impressive body of data that supports the idea that the ancients had special knowledge relating to earth energies and connecting "ley lines." Countless books have been written about the standing stones and megalithic sites in the British Isles — immense stones carefully placed at key locations by ancient and mysterious builders. But as these sites are scientifically investigated, an important point should be made. We must remember that these sites occur in areas that also feature specific local phenomena and a resulting cultural mythology. These phenomena may have a unique character that directly relates to the beliefs of the current and past inhabitants.

Parts of the world have their own peculiar myths and legends. The San Luis Valley in south-central Colorado and north-central New Mexico is considered a sacred site by many of its original residents. As you will see, along with the designation comes a bewildering kaleidoscope of paranormal phenomena.

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Enter the Valley is a follow-up to my first book, The Mysterious Valley (TMV). In TMV, I attempted objectively to scrutinize the amazing so-called UFO and cattle mutilation reports that I investigated from 1992 to the spring of 1995, along with presenting a detailed examination of the historical record of these occurrences. I attempted to give the reader as complete a feel for the region's activity as possible. I quickly realized that I could not possibly cover all of these events in one book.

Since the July 1995 completion of TMV, a fantastic array of high-strange, real-time events have occurred, some of historic significance. I cover and analyze these current cases fully.

Along with the periods of intense activity, I was rewarded with months of quiet time, when I received no reports for weeks on end. During these downtimes, I researched far back into this wondrous locale's history, myths, and legends. I am convinced that there are clues to be found and pondered in the dim past.

Needless to say, TMV's documented history of unusual events in the world's largest alpine valley only hinted at the dazzling variety of anomalous phenomena reported here. As you will discover, there is even more mystery to wonder at. Up here at the high ground, we'll peer into the dark corners nestled inside North America's virtual attic. Along with the dozens of reports of current unexplained activity, Enter the Valley addresses many, but not all, of the additional mysteries I've found here.

Throughout the beginning sections of The Mysterious Valley, I listed a series of axioms or Suggested Rules of Investigation in the order in which I realized them. This list is important and is included in this book. I cannot overemphasize the importance of these rules. These axioms govern all aspects of my investigative efforts. TMV gave the reader a complete history of cattle mutilations and UFO sightings that have been reported here in the San Luis Valley and stretch back over thirty years. The amount of data I've managed to compile since 1992 is a testament to all the investigators and researchers who have forwarded me data.

Because I cover so much new territory in this book, I have been forced to concentrate on the more compelling UFO and unusual animal death (UAD) events that have occurred since the writing of TMV. I have included a complete Report Log to give a sense of the intensity and the variety of phenomena reported here in the San Luis Valley.

As in The Mysterious Valley, I've attempted to convey the process of discovery concerning the events and information in this book. In the majestic San Luis Valley, we are all on a journey of discovery and wonder. I can only hope my efforts inspire you to do the work where you live, for we all live in a strange and awe-inspiring world, and we need as many aware people as possible, documenting the weird and wonderful.

The fact that we all discover, or are exposed to, data in a sequential manner is important. Our brain is set up to accumulate linear data in a nonlinear fashion. A subtle, fluid dance of synchronicity weaves through our lives, interlocking the possibilities of choreographed awareness. Coincidences challenge us toward expansion. The perceived meaning has meaning, if we are sensitive enough to detect its flow.

Can I Get a Witness?

June 24, 1995

The beautiful high-mountain summer was in full swing. Outside the window, broadtail and rufus hummingbirds angrily buzzed each other, like little rocket-powered dive-bombers in the brilliant sunshine. Underneath their feeder, several of our little town's resident deer browsed quietly, always alert to any danger. And where was I, the amateur gumshoe? Stuck behind my computer with the overwhelming task of writing The Mysterious Valley looming over me. I'd never written a book before, and I was insecure concerning the monumental task I had agreed to complete. If you had asked me five years ago what I'd be doing in five years, "investigating enough weirdness to write a book" would not have been my answer.

With the help of Colorado–New Mexico journalist/theorist David Perkins, Paris, Texas, investigator Tom Adams, Linda Moulton Howe, Kalani and Katuiska Hanohano, Dr. Lynn Weldon at Adams State College, law enforcement officials, courageous experiencers, dogged researchers, and countless others, I had diligently accumulated several large boxes of research materials over the course of my then three-year investigation. I had completed the arduous task of organizing it, but the very act of writing it all down in a coherent fashion was daunting. However, I'm persistent. I'd been banging away, writing five to six pages per day.

That fresh, lovely morning, I had finished my coffee and decided to go to the post office to pick up the mail. I had only two months left to complete my manuscript, and to be honest, my self-confidence that morning wasn't very high.

After many months of investigating flap levels of unusual activity, the countless reports I had been fielding, sometimes several per day, had inexplicably ceased. The San Luis Valley had been "officially," and I might add blissfully, quiet for two whole months without a single report. Perfect timing. I was writing up a storm with no distractions.

I've always wondered about the downtimes with no reports. To me this is an indication of the absolute reality of perceptions of unexplained events. If folks here were reporting only misidentified, mundane occurrences, then why no reports? If this were truly the case, you would think that there would always be at least a trickle of reports, not a complete cessation of activity. This fact alone has convinced me these waves of "unexplained" reports are real cause-and-effect events.

I darted into Crestone in my little Toyota truck. "Town" was in full swing, and I noticed cars from several different states parked in front of The Road Kill Café (now called The Kitchen Table) as I made the turn to head up the small hill to the post office. The following letter, one of hundreds I've received, awaited me in my mailbox:

Dear Christopher:

I have been interested in the phenomenon [sic] since I had read the newspaper reports about NORAD picking up an object on radar which reportedly crashed near Greenie Mountain.

In April I attended your lecture on the Mysterious Valley during the convention in Colorado Springs. I subscribed to your newsletter as a result.

This past weekend (June 15–18), six of my friends and I camped out in the North Crestone Creek campground. All of us were anxious to view the night sky in hopes of seeing something out of the ordinary. Over the course of three evenings, we all saw a host of satellites, airplanes, and shooting stars.

On the evening of June 17, we all were watching the sky from the area just west of the bridge at the entrance of the North Crestone Creek campground. As you no doubt know, this area provides an excellent view of the Valley. At exactly 10:58 PM, just as we were ready to head back, all seven of us saw an aerial phenomenon, the like of which none of us had ever seen before in our lives. We were looking north, when a sizable, bright, yellowish-orange oval-shaped light appeared out of nowhere and blazed across the sky from west to east. It was traveling parallel with, but 35 to 40 degrees above the northern horizon. It was hurtling through the sky at a high rate of speed (faster than any commercial aircraft, but slower than a shooting star). It was silent, and had no "tail." We watched it for approximately 7–10 seconds (enough time for all of us to see it and make comments about it). It disappeared behind some cloud cover over the mountains.

Those present during the sighting were two criminal prosecuting attorneys, a computer programmer, two employees of the rape assistance and awareness organization, a realtor and a crime-victim advocate. All are from Denver, except the computer programmer, who is from San Francisco.

We were all fascinated and knew that we had seen something "mysterious." Our question is did anyone else report this same phenomenon to you? Can you rule out that it was a simple meteor? I am looking forward to the next issue of the Mysterious Valley [Report].

Sincerely,

Chris Ramsay

One of the seven witnesses, Dave Brase, is now working as a law enforcement officer. He confirmed details of the group's sighting by phone and remarked, "I've worked outdoors all my life, and I have never, ever seen anything remotely like it."

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Before Chris Ramsay's letter, I had not received a report of an unusual aerial object in two months, and two more months went by without receiving another — not even a report of our "cheap fireworks." I always get reports of these perplexing objects during our many active UFO sighting periods. These dazzling orbs of bluish-white light that I've dubbed "cheap fireworks" are not mundane celestial objects. I have seen them below me in altitude with a completely uniform overcast sky. In 1993, one man called to report a very small one that he had just seen. He described the experience of seeing one of these enigmatic forms flash within ten feet of his location, like "watching Tinker Bell crashing." There had been no reports of cattle mutilations (or "mutes," as longtime cattle death researchers refer to them) during this four-month period, and I'm sure that here in the San Luis Valley, cows had died naturally and were scavenged, and meteors had flashed majestically through the thin mountain sky. But come on, folks, why wasn't at least one of these mundane events misidentified and reported as high-strange?

Where do the ships and meteors go when they're not flying around here? Or are they flying around but no one is reporting them? This very question has dogged ufologists for decades. It reminds me of the old question, "If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make any noise?" If the group of seven skywatchers had left just a minute or two earlier, would that same object have soared across the sky? The object could have been a meteor, but then again it may have indeed been something unusual, something out of the ordinary. I received no other reports of this event.

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I'm not complaining about those downtimes when no reports occur. It allows me the time to dig even deeper into the history of the wondrous Southwest. I have a curious, inquiring mind. What some find tedious, I find compelling — like rooting around in old newspaper archives or dusty library shelves. The research aspect of my investigative endeavors is a constant source of enjoyment, for you never know what you'll find with the simple turn of a page. My "microcosmic approach" dictates that the interested investigator-researcher must cover his defined geographic area like a soaked blanket. I am convinced that any particular location has unique indicators, in the form of unexplained phenomena, that may contribute to our further understanding of all paranormal phenomena. In my mind, UFOs and unusual animal deaths are inexorably linked to religion and belief; haunted houses and spook lights are related to subcultural interpretations found in local legends and myths; and secret military activity and underground bases are entwined in perception of identified flying objects as UFOs. This idea of linkage is ignored by mainstream ufology.

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Excerpted from Enter the Valley by Christopher O'Brien. Copyright © 1999 Christopher O'Brien. Excerpted by permission of St. Martin's Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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