I talked to the New Mexico MUFON section director on Saturday morning, and Gabe Valdez on Friday evening. Both said that the weirdness continues around Dulce, but not nearly as much as in the 1980s and ’90s. The tribe has closed ranks and refuses to let anyone do research there anymore. This may be the reason that things seemed to have stopped when we asked a few locals. The new buildings and infrastructure are due mainly to fundng provided by oil and natural gas resources in the area, and to some extent from the casino.

In the midst of this crackdown on weirdness in Dulce, I found a t-shirt for sale in one of the stores picturing an alien in a flying saucer. Below the image were the words (if I remember correctly) “I got probed, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt/ Archuleta Mesa, New Mexico.”

What I’m immediately minded of, though, is the Sufi practise of surreptitiously exposing any would-be disciples to a host of worldly attractions to see whether these prove more attractive to them than spiritual matters.

As you yourself observed, when you drove through Dulce in the ’90s “there were about three buildings huddled around the crossroads.

“Now there’s a giant supermarket, two casinos, and a brand new school…bars and liquor stores…”

Maybe strangeness is still endemic to the area, it’s just the focus of attention for the locals that’s changed.

And in a more paranoid vein, wouldn’t that be precisely what anyone carrying out dark and nefarious covert activities in the area would want?

Also important to me was the realisation that anyone (military, aliens or any combination thereof) who wanted to conceal their activities up on the mesa, could do so with a minimum of difficulty as long as they had a helicopter to get them up there. Nobody on the ground below can see anything more than a few feet from the mesa’s edge.

One more point: our brief interactions with local Apaches and non-Apaches, some who had grown up there over several decades, others who had only recently moved to the area, elicited absolutely nothing that hinted at strangeness being endemic to the area. At least not any more.

That said, there’s no doubt that some strange sh*t has gone on there in the past, and that it had an effect on those who were immediately touched by it, such as Gabe Valdez and ranchers who lost cattle to the mutirators.

Anyway, it’s a striking place to visit, and the breakfast at the Best Western hotel ain’t half bad either. I can personally recommend the Senior Breakfast.

MP

Most people reading the comments may not know what you’re writing about. Abiquiu is a picturesque town north of Santa Fe which we passed through today on the way back from Dulce. We visited the anthropology and palentolgy musuems there yesterday–one room apiece for each. They were Nice, neat, and informative though. The natural amphitheater with the haunting echo effects just north of the museums was cool too. I’ll check out the film. Thanks.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432289/