1. Roswell UFO Crash
Roswell has been looking for answers since something large, round, and made of a metallic substance crashed in the desert outside of town on July 2, 1947. The government initially notified the press that a "flying disc" crashed there, but soon corrected the story to say the debris was from a weather balloon. We may never know what really crashed there, but its still a topic of vehement debate today.
2. Geronimo's Skull
Some say Yale University’s Skull and Bones Society stole Geronimo’s skull from the Apache chief’s grave at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and are currently housing it in their New Haven, Connecticut lair. One of Geronimo’s grandsons, Harlyn Geronimo, filed a lawsuit in 2009 demanding the bones be returned to their rightful resting place in New Mexico. Does the secret society really possess Geronimo’s skull? Only Geronimo’s spirit may ever know.
3. Taos Hum
A small number of Taos residents claim to be plagued by a weird phenomenon—a relentless humming noise that has been compared to a “diesel engine idling in the distance.” Known as the Taos Hum, the unusual sound has foiled investigators from Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Phillips Laboratory at Albuquerque’s Kirtland Air Force Base who have been unable to identify its cause even today.
4. La Llorona (pronounced "LAH yoh ROH nah”)
La Llorona, or “the weeping woman” is a restless soul said to wander rivers and arroyos. In different versions of the tale, which are told throughout New Mexico, Mexico, and Latin America, she may have been a young mother who kills her children to be with her lover. In other tales, she is a poor girl who kills her children when her wealthy lover won’t marry her. In every telling, she regrets her actions, kills herself, and spends the rest of her ghostly days wandering the waterways in search of her, or any stray, children. Just who is La Llorona and does she really exist? To learn the legend: www.laplaza.org/penasco/activities/llorona_II.html
5. Chupacabra
What do you get when you cross a vampire with an alien, a coyote, and a kangaroo? A chupacabra. The “goat-sucker” (literal translation) monster reportedly drinks the blood of livestock; its mark is puncture wounds in the animal’s necks. Newspaper reports dating to the 1950s suggest the four-foot-tall cryptid was sighted and preying throughout the Americas. Want evidence its roaming New Mexico? In 2005, several Albuquerque West Mesa residents described finding the corpse of a lizard-like beast with colorful spines. A speedy, winged creature was also spotted near Alamogordo. Is the chupacabra real or just an urban legend. Find out more: www.unknownexplorers.com /chupacabra.php or www.science.howstuffworks.com/chupacabra.htm.
6. Aliens in Dulce
Are extra-terrestrials infesting the caverns below Archuleta Mesa, outside Dulce in northwestern New Mexico? An ex-government engineer who claims he survived a 1979 firefight between aliens and the military there claims it's true. Other sources describe an underground laboratory, jointly run by alien species and the U.S. government, that harnesses magnetic energy and breeds alien/human super-species. We may never know what really exists there. To find out more: www.dldewey.com/columns/schnidrf.htm or http://aliens.monstrous.com/dulce.htm.
7. Aliens in Aztec
In March 1948, a flying saucer may have crashed in Hart Canyon northeast of Aztec. Witnesses reported finding a large, superbly crafted disc, and discovering 14 to 16 (depending on whom you ask) charred, small humanoid corpses from the wreckage. The government dispatched a team of scientists to recover the bodies and investigate them. Of course, the scientists were sworn to secrecy, so their findings still remain unknown today. To find out more: www.aztecufo.com/crash.htm.
8. Sasquatch
Some may josh about encountering Big Foot, the Yeti, or Sasquatch. But no matter what you call the beast, some Jemez Springs residents gossip about seeing the animal around the Valles Caldera National Preserve. According to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Association there have been 24 such sightings in New Mexico. Were they Sasquatch? Bears on two legs? Really hairy hippies? You decide. To find out more: www.bfro.net or www.cryptomundo.com/bigfoot-report/nm-bigfoot/
9. Teratorns
Are prehistoric birds known as teratorns winging their way around Las Cruces? Witnesses have reported seeing the monstrous birds as far back as the 1800s and have seen these raptors with twenty-foot wingspans them as recently as a couple years ago. Some cryptozoologists believe the creatures are prehistoric birds that have survived in modern times; others scoff at the rumors. What do you think? To find out more: http://s8int.com/phile/eyewit30.html
10. Paranormal Hauntings
With New Mexico’s history dating back thousands of years, its no wonder that tales of ghosts and specters abound. From Civil War battlefields to the New Mexico State Penitentiary, the Southwest Ghost Hunter’s Association has investigated paranormal activities around the state. To find out more: www.sgha.net/invest_nm.html.