Alamogordo, NM — December 19, 2025 — Tucked in the high desert near the White Sands Missile Range, Holloman Air Force Base has long been a hotspot for UFO lore but much more subtle than in Roswell. One of the most persistent stories claims that in 1964, a dramatic “close encounter of the third kind” unfolded right on the base’s tarmac: three disc-shaped craft descended, one landed, and non-human entities stepped out to meet stunned Air Force and CIA personnel. This tale—referred to in military lore as the “Alamogordo Non-Human Entity Incident.” The incident, whatever actually occurred, has fueled decades of speculation, with some even linking it to Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) as a loosely inspired retelling.

The Core Allegation

According to the legend told by some stationed at Alamogordo’s military installations, sometime in April or May 1964 (dates vary in accounts), radar at Holloman tracked a highly classified incident resulting in three unidentified objects approaching the base. One craft appeared to wobble or struggle before landing in the sands. A ramp extended, and a “nonhuman entity”—emerged. They allegedly carried a device resembling a translator, military staff interacted with the entities, and base command officers in a pre-arranged meeting exchanged primates. The encounter was reportedly filmed on 16mm by military cameras, with footage allegedly shown to select insiders and remains highly classified.

The story was recently recounted by James Fox on a 2023 episode of the Julian Dorey podcast. He said the government definitely has footage of it.

The story gained traction in the 1970s through filmmaker Robert Emenegger, who claimed in his documentary UFOs: Past, Present, and Future (1974, re-released as UFOs: It Has Begun) that the Department of Defense promised him authentic footage of a 1964 Holloman landing for the film. He was told to portray it as hypothetical after the promise fell through—possibly due to political reasons like Watergate. Emenegger later said he viewed the film, describing three beings exiting the craft and others reported the monkey exchange.

More recently, a 2025 Amazon Prime documentary, The Age of Disclosure, revived the claim via astrophysicist Eric Davis (former Pentagon AATIP advisor). Davis alleged that former President George H.W. Bush, in a 2003 private conversation, confirmed hearing about the event: “three craft approached, one landed, and a “non-human entity” interacted with personnel. Bush reportedly learned of it after leaving office.

The “Primate Farm” Connection

Some versions tie the incident to the “Alamogordo Prinate Farm” or primate research facility in Alamogordo and with research done at Holloman in the 1960s also via NASA, allegedly used to prepare for “interactive contact.”