In
1970, a U.S. Athena missile was fired from a location in Utah, scheduled to
land in the White Sands Missile Base in New Mexico. However, it went about 900
miles off course, without apparent explanation, and crashed in the Sonora
Desert in Mexico, over a hundred miles south of the Big Bend area in Texas.
A
few years later, a Saturn booster rocket used in the Apollo program broke up
over the same area.
The
U.S. military sent a team of engineers to investigate the area, which starts
some 25 miles north of the tiny community of Ceballos, Durango.
One
of the first things the engineers discovered was that it was impossible to
transmit radio waves in the impacted area -- walkie-talkies and portable radios
would not work, television signals could not be received in the scattered
neighboring ranches, microwave or satellite signals failed to penetrate. Even
airplanes flying over the region experienced instrument malfunctions.
Apparently,
some sort of magnetic anomaly stifles radio waves in the region.
Thus,
it became known as the Zone of Silence -- about 1,500 square miles of
uninhabited flat terrain, loaded with thorny desert plants, infested with
poisonous snakes and containing bizarre animal mutants.
For
example, insects and tortoises are known to grow to three times normal size.
Centipedes are a foot long with purple heads. The tortoises have no tail. And
it is the only region where cactus grows in specific shades of purple and red.
In
the 1800s, scattered farmers attempted to eke out an existence in this region
whereupon they became aware of the "hot" stones that fell nightly
from the sky.
Apparently,
the Zone of Silence is like a bizarre magnet for meteorites. Within the Zone,
there's a stunning "field of meteorites" area containing millions of
meteorites scattered everywhere.
In
the 1950s, a scientifically significant meteorite crashed in the vicinity.
According to researchers, it contained material as old as the universe.
On
February 8, 1969, the largest meteorite ever found on Earth (the size of a
Buick) crashed into the Zone of Silence. It's known as the Allende Meteorite.
The
1970 U.S. military team of engineers discovered the area to be a hot bed for
meteorites. The soil contains significant magnetic ore, possibly due to eons of
meteorite bombardment from above. Plus, the mountains that surround the Zone of
Silence also have various uranium deposits.
The
Zone of Silence lies south of the 30th parallel, just north of the Tropic of
Cancer -- the same latitude as the Bermuda Triangle and other bizarre planetary
anomalies.
Ancient
ruins have been located in the Zone of Silence but archeologists have been
unable to determine the age and exact purpose of these structures, which were
possibly utilized as an astronomical observatory. Furthermore, there have been
discoveries of six-mile long man-made platforms, a man-made hill in the shape
of a pyramid, and carved stone statues of animals.
Not
surprisingly, the Zone of Silence is also a Mecca for UFO activity.
In
1976, a huge rectangular UFO passed over the town of Ceballos, witnessed by
virtually everyone in town.
The
same year, a photograph was taken (by a tourist) of a UFO that had landed on a
hill within the Zone of Silence.
Travelers
through the Zone of Silence have reported seeing strange lights maneuvering at
night, floating motionless, changing colors, then taking off at great speed. Other
witnesses who have spotted these mysterious lights at night have discovered
vegetation the next day that appeared to have been burned by fire.
Encounters
of mysterious beings have also been reported within the Zone of Silence. The
most typical encounter has been with Nordic types -- a common UFO entity that
is around 7 feet tall, with long blond hair and blue eyes. In UFO terminology,
they are often referred to as Pleiadians.
Reportedly,
two months before the U.S. Athena missile crashed into the Sonora Desert,
Wernher von Braun (premier U.S. rocket scientist) made a visit to the Zone of
Silence, creating speculation that the missile may have been purposely fired
into the Zone of Silence to give U.S. personnel an excuse to enter the Zone for
some undisclosed purposes (such as exploration or experimentation). The U.S.
military even built a special railroad spur into the Zone to haul away the remains
of the rocket, tons of magnetic dirt and perhaps other items.
Life
is a mystery. You can accept it as is, leading to the bliss of ignorance -- or
you can explore it, leading to the next mystery.
"Hello darkness
my old friend...
I've come to talk
with you again...
Because a vision
softly creeping...
Left its seeds while
I was sleeping...
And the vision that
was planted in my brain...
Still remains...
Within the sound of
silence."
(lyrics by Simon
& Garfunkel)
If
you want to explore a true mystery, spend your next vacation in the Zone of
Silence. Leave your cell phone at home, keep an eye out for snakes and be very
polite to seven-feet blond Nordics.
___________
Quote
for the Day – "Silence is refreshment for the soul." Wynonna Judd
___________
Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark
Mountains with a few dogs and where silence is a valuable commodity.
___________
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