1974 Coyame, Mexico UFO Crash Retrieval
The 1974 Coyame, Mexico UFO Crash Retrieval is an alleged UAP crash and covert recovery operation that occurred on August 25–27, 1974, near Coyame, Chihuahua, Mexico. According to the Denb Report, an unidentified object tracked by US Air Defense radar collided mid-air with a civilian aircraft, crashed in northern Mexico, was located by Mexican military forces who subsequently died under mysterious circumstances, and was then covertly retrieved by a CIA-coordinated recovery team staged at Fort Bliss, Texas.
| Date | 1974-08-25 |
|---|
Chronology
August 25, 1974, 2207 hours
US Air Defense radar detected an unknown object approaching US airspace from the Gulf of Mexico at 2,200 knots, bearing 325°, altitude 75,000 feet, on a course to intercept US territory approximately 40 miles southwest of Corpus Christi, Texas.
August 25, 1974, ~2208 hours
The object decelerated to approximately 1,700 knots, turned to heading 290°, and began a stepped descent. It entered Mexican airspace approximately 40 miles southwest of Brownsville, Texas, and was tracked approximately 500 miles to a point near Coyame, where it disappeared from radar screens.
August 25, 1974, ~2259 hours
Approximately 52 minutes after the object disappeared, civilian radio traffic indicated a civilian aircraft departing El Paso for Mexico City had gone down in the same area.
August 26, 1974, ~1035 hours
Mexican authorities searching for the missing plane reported wreckage from the civilian aircraft and a second circular-shaped craft, apparently in one piece but damaged. The Mexican military clamped radio silence on all search efforts.
August 26, 1974, afternoon
High-altitude and low-altitude reconnaissance overflights revealed both crash objects had been loaded onto Mexican military trucks, but the convoy had stopped before reaching populated areas. Photos showed all personnel dead, some lying on the ground beside vehicles.
August 26, 1974, 2100 hours
A CIA recovery team with unmarked helicopters assembled and staged at Fort Bliss, Texas. Launch was delayed for arrival of additional hazmat equipment and two additional personnel.
August 26, 1974, 1438 hours
Four helicopters (three UH-1 Hueys and one CH-53 Sea Stallion) departed Fort Bliss, followed the border to Presidio, then entered Mexican airspace north of Candelaria.
August 26, 1974, 1653 hours
The recovery team arrived at the convoy site. All Mexican personnel were dead. Recovery team members in bio-protection suits attached the disc to a cargo cable from the Sea Stallion.
August 26, 1974, 1747 hours
The recovered disc was on its way to US territory. Before leaving, the recovery team destroyed all Mexican vehicles, bodies, and civilian aircraft debris with high explosives.
August 26, 1974, 1746 hours
The UH-1 Hueys departed the site.
August 26–27, 1974, overnight
The recovery team proceeded to the Davis Mountains, approximately 25 miles northeast of Valentine, Texas, and waited.
August 27, 1974, 0225 hours
The helicopters rendezvoused with a small truck convoy on the road between Van Horn and Kent, Texas. The disc was transferred to a truck. All helicopters returned to their original bases for decontamination.
August 27, 1974, ongoing
The truck convoy continued non-stop using back roads and smaller highways, staying away from cities. Destination: Atlanta, Georgia. Unconfirmed reports suggest subsequent transfer to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base or another unnamed facility.
Recovered Object Description
- Diameter: 16 feet 5 inches
- Thickness: slightly less than 5 feet
- Shape: convex on both upper and lower surfaces to the same degree
- Color: silver, like polished steel
- Features: no visible doors, windows, lights, or propulsion means; no markings
- Damage: irregular hole approximately 12 inches in diameter with indented metal (likely from collision); dent about 2 feet wide (likely from ground impact)
- Weight: estimated at approximately 1,500 lbs
Significance
The Coyame case is notable for:
- The detailed operational timeline provided by the Denb Report
- The deaths of the Mexican recovery team under mysterious circumstances (possibly biological/chemical contamination)
- The rapid assembly and deployment of a CIA-coordinated recovery team from Fort Bliss
- The use of unmarked helicopters, bio-protection suits, and high explosives to sanitize the site
- Corroboration from Leonard Stringfield, who independently heard of a US cross-border retrieval in Chihuahua in the late 1970s
- Its listing by the UAP Caucus as a case to bring before Congress
- A corroborating newspaper article from El Heraldo de Chihuahua (October 27, 1974) located by Mexican UFO researcher Alfonso Salazar, reporting the death of a group of Mexican soldiers in what was described as a "military transport" crash — two months after the alleged incident
- Its references in MJ-12 Documents research and IPU summary reports
- Parallels with the 1997 Peru UFO Crash Retrieval involving Jonathan Weygandt
The case is frequently referred to as "Mexico's Roswell" and represents one of the most extensively documented alleged UAP crash retrievals outside the United States.