Lying in a mountainous region of northern New Mexico near the infamous town of Dulce is a wondrous geological formation known as Archuletta Mesa. Right in the midst of the Jicarilla Apache Reservation, the mesa is considered sacred ground to the tribe. It is here that an unusual history of secret government underground operations, UFO’s, and paranormal events manifest themselves with an eerie persistence.
Norio’s expertise on an enduring enigma
I spoke at length with Norio Hayakawa about the weird history of strange events that permeate this particularly infamous region where Indian folklore, rumors of secret operations, and unknown aerial visitations meet. After all, Norio should know. He has extensively explored, interviewed inhabitants, and conducted annual conferences on the subject of UFO’s and rumors of a deep underground base that many are convinced is there. So hold onto to your hats as we take a ride through a disturbing succession of bizarre events that are not supposed to happen, and our mainstream media will refuse to report on because there is a truth our here on the Mesa that contradicts preconceived notions of normality.
It all began in the early seventies when the grim reality of cattle mutilations began to surface. New Mexico became one of the centers of the controversy. Local ranchers began losing heads of cattle at an alarming rate, yet local authorities such as State Trooper, Gabe Valdez were unable to get to the bottom of it. The FBI opened a vault on declassified documents that disclosed its considerable history of investigative evidence on everything from UFO’s to bank robberies. December of 2010 saw for the first time in decades sensitive documents and interdepartmental memos that showed just how intensively the FBI had worked with the US armed forces in the UFO mystery beginning in 1947.
FBI comes to Archuletta and Dulce area
Cattle mutilations became the most voluminous subject of investigation that the bureau had kept records on. By 1973 the agency was forced to engage in a phenomenon that it normally would not have reviewed but for the interstate aspect of the FBI’s charter. Reluctant to enter a continuing mystery with no end in sight, FBI agents worked with sheriff’s departments and ranchers to try and determine just what was causing the bizarre deaths of their investments in livestock. By 1978 the federal government had issued a $250,000 dollar grant to aid local agencies in funding efforts to build a case and accumulate evidence on the abnormal aspects of the cases being investigated. That effort included Dulce and the Archuletta Mesa area as State Trooper, Gabe Valdez, accumulated evidence at the mutilation sites on the ranch of Manuel Gomez. At least 17 cattle were found with unusual removal of tissue from varying areas on their bodies ranging from reproductive organs to lips and eyes. With laser-like precision incisions that were cauterized so that no blood was left in the wounds characterized the alarming plight of the animals.
That wasn’t all. At the same time nocturnal aerial lights were viewed by residents of Dulce as well as Apache Indians within the Jicarilla Reservation where the Archuletta Mesa stands. While reports of strange underground noises and vibrations alarmed local people fueling the underground base rumors, this was not the only manifestation that haunts the region. Paranormal events have occurred for a long time in the nearby canyon and surrounding terrain. The local Native Americans have not ignored these developments either.
The American Indian has always attributed a spiritual realm to the vast and beautiful expanses of desert, forest, and rock formations that grace the Dulce Archuletta Mesa region. The sacred grounds of the Jicarilla Apaches are said to be rich in mysterious happenings that intrigue the curious and baffle science in the quest for answers over a legacy of weird sightings and events that defy explanation.
Richard Vigil weighs in on the Archuletta legacy
Richard Vigil, one of many Native Americans who call the Dulce and Archuletta Mesa his home has some compelling recollections to share with those who dare to cross the normal realm and look into the enchanted puzzles that perpetuate themselves in mysterious sightings that amaze local Apaches just as much as the townspeople of Dulce. Richard’s visions, encounters with unique observations, and his location of what appear to be deep tunnel entrances to a secret underground base leave the listener spellbound as he explains his findings.
Cryptozoology
Richard talks of the disappearance of food and drink from the picnic tables along the J-2 road that runs along the front of the Archuletta Mesa rock face and climbs upward deep into Jicarilla Apache reservation lands. As people bring picnic foods to the tables while enjoying the countryside many report that their meals vanish in short order! Richard Vigil attributes this to the presence of Big Foot type creatures who actually dwell in the area and steal the food. The very name “Sasquatch” came about from the name given by a Canadian Indian tribe.
Fire in the sky
Richard tells of an unsettling experience reported by his cousin who was sleeping in a small adobe house with a single window at the edge of Cordova Canyon. The house sat on the side of a dirt road overlooking the canyon. One night as his cousin slept he heard a noise that he assumed was an approaching car. Too tired to get up and go to the door. He merely lay awake waiting for whoever it was driving up to knock on his door, but no knock came! Instead, a fiery bright light flooded his window waking him completely and rousing his suspicion that perhaps a wildfire had been ignited. When Richard’s cousin opened his door he was aghast at the sight of the entire night sky had being lit up by a strange intense light that did not originate from any conventional source that he could discern! Who or what had caused such a brilliant nocturnal display?
Where spirits of the dead speak
Richard has had his paranormal experiences here himself. He worked for his tribe in hospice services and was one day told to retrieve the body of a baby that had miscarried from cold storage for a burial ceremony. It was the stillborn infant of his sister. When he retrieved the chilled body of the baby he stared at it face to face for a moment and the spirit of the child spoke to him. Richard Vigil was not as shaken as most people would be as American Indians expect to have such experiences. He said that the baby’s spirit had said that it was happy and was now with her grandparents and other family members who had previously passed on. The baby’s spirit told him that his sister would have another child very soon and not to be so sad over losing her last infant. When Richard later told his sister who was still mourning over the loss of her baby about what happened she became upset with him. For a time he did not see her and her family until one day when he was walking down the road and her car stopped alongside him. She offered to give him a ride and they went out to eat at a restaurant. While there she told Richard she was so happy to find out that she was once again pregnant when doctors had told her she would never have another child.
Vigil talks of looking into the sky while atop Archuletta Mesa one day and to be amazed as he saw what appeared to by an angel but upon closer inspection instead appeared to be the Lord Jesus. He peered up into the heavens with a smile as he observed the incredible spiritual vision drifting above in the clouds. Vigil attributes his ability to capture these visions because he is patient and open to such magical images whereas most people are typically too pre-occupied to pay attention to the miracles happening around them.
An unsettling extraterrestrial tale
Adding to the incredible legacy of Archuletta Mesa is another of Richard Vigil’s testimonies to the extraterrestrial aspects of the area which are just as real to him as his native spiritual instincts. He told me of being contacted by a man claiming to be from Australia who had wanted to use his services as a guide to the region. The man explained he was doing some UFO research and needed a local familiar with the area to get him to the top of Archuletta Mesa so that he could conduct an experiment. Vigil agreed and was actually paid well by the is mysterious individual.
They drove up the J-2 dirt road and ascended the steep mesa path in the dark of the night. This Australian came to Dulce driving a top of the line BMW and had a beautiful woman with him who appeared to be a classic blonde Nordic beauty having stunning features. The curious stranger had even brought with him some cold beer in an ice chest to keep them cool on that warm summer night. As they enjoyed a couple of beers and quietly peered into the starry sky, Richard noticed something out of the corner of his eye where the Australian was standing. The stranger shape changed into what appeared to be an different entity, a space alien! Vigil was shaken for a moment fearing what he had just gotten a glimpse of. At first, he kept his silence until he could no longer remain mute. Finally Vigil spoke, asking the Australian who he really was.
The man admitted that he was indeed not human and that he had come to Archuletta Mesa for a reason. He went into his BMW and extracted a strange device that looked like a strobe machine. He hooked it up and switched it on. When the strobe flashed into the night skies an incredible thing happened. Suddenly from the darkened night came glowing UFO’s that flew directly over them. This Australian stranger had summoned a nocturnal flying saucer visitation at will! Richard was amazed to say the least. The man confessed to Vigil that he was one of them and the question that had haunted him all his life had been, why had they left him here on earth? Why had they never come back for him? Such is the stuff of fantastic stories and incredible legends that make the Archuletta Mesa an enduring enigma!
The Ancient Ones
Anasazi ruins are still evident in Cordova Canyon. “Anasazi” means (the ancient ones) according to Native American lore. Archeologists have mistakenly attributed the Anasazi as merely being predecessors to the Pueblo Indians, who actually found and occupied the abandoned Anasazi ruins and then copied their construction to make newer ones for themselves. In truth, the Anasazi mysteriously vanished without a trace. The science of archeology has tried to rationally explain this away as the tribe being driven out by plague or drought and being forced to vacate the earthen dwellings they had once constructed. Still, the true explanation eludes us in this mysterious region that defies conventional wisdom.
Another UFO incident
One last tale of suspense and intrigue to add to the incredible legacy of extraterrestrial influence that many have witnessed in the vicinity of the Jicarilla Apache sacred grounds. Norio Hayakawa told me of a disturbing UFO sighting that frightened a woman whose property on the mesa became the site of an unwelcome visitation. She called the police for help after watching a silvery disk flying about and then apparently land on her yard. She claimed that a small entity got out of the craft and stood in front of the flying saucer holding something in front of itself like a small box or device. She became frightened thinking that it could be a weapon of some kind as minutes passed.
Death beneath the mesa
One might recall testimony given by Phil Schneider before his untimely death as he described being seriously wounded during an underground firefight between alien entities and US special forces. Phil was struck down as if by a bolt of lightning when one of the hostile beings held its hands in front of its torso as though it were holding a small box just before Schneider was almost killed struck down by a death ray of some kind. The incident occurred while Schneider, serving as a geological consultant, was lowered down a test shaft to investigate a strange soot that was being emitted from the deep hole. Phil’s job was to identify rock formations as the government’s secret drilling operation encountered strata that needed to be eliminated as efficiently as possible by explosives or other means. This fatal confrontation between subterranean alien beings and humans occurred once Phil descended into a deep shaft along with soldiers there to protect him and other civilian specialists involved in the project. In 1979 the town of Dulce was rocked by an emergency of unknown proportions when the underground battle began! Many US soldiers died in that hostile exchange.
Maybe the only place on earth where so many forces converge
That such occurrences could transpire in the remote wilderness of this sacred ground of the Jicarilla Apache tribe is a testament to an enduring paradox as different worlds that have collided there. The ancient spiritual world of Native Americans, the paranormal realm of Big Foots, secret government black operations deep underground, and the continued appearance of UFO sightings demonstrate a convergence of seemingly clashing dimensions that only seem indigenous to this unique formation in northern New Mexico known as Archuletta Mesa.