Ruben Uriarte
Ruben Uriarte is an American UAP researcher and author specializing in crash retrieval investigations, particularly cases occurring in Mexico. He is best known for co-authoring Mexico's Roswell: The Chihuahua UFO Crash with Noah Torres, a comprehensive investigation into the 1974 Coyame, Mexico UFO Crash Retrieval.
| Role | Author and firsthand investigator |
|---|
Field Investigation
Uriarte and Torres conducted extensive fieldwork in the Coyame, Chihuahua, Mexico region, including witness interviews and physical evidence collection. The pair reported finding alleged aircraft debris near the supposed crash site. They also located and interviewed witnesses who reported seeing a mysterious fireball over the Mexican side of the border near Coyame in summer 1974, followed by military helicopter activity.
Uriarte and Torres hypothesized that the civilian aircraft involved in the alleged mid-air collision with the UAP was likely a Cessna 180 light aircraft, based on the object's last radar detection at 20,000 feet and the Cessna 180's service ceiling of 17,700 feet. The authors speculated the aircraft may have been conducting covert drug smuggling operations, common along the US-Mexico border in 1974.
Wikipedia Investigation
In their follow-up investigation, Uriarte and Torres attempted to trace the source of names added to the Coyame Wikipedia page by user "Mercy 11" in September 2012. These names included alleged members of the US recovery team and Mexican soldiers who died at the crash site. When contacted, Mercy 11 was unable to provide a verifiable source for the information, leading to questions about the authenticity of the additions. The Wikipedia page was subsequently deleted in 2014.
Additional Research
In their follow-up book The Coyame Incident, Uriarte and Torres referenced an August 1974 death of 50-year-old Mexican pilot Enrique Riviera Gutierrez, as reported in El Friso of Juarez, Chihuahua, though the connection to the Coyame crash remains speculative. They also cited Mexican UFO researcher Alfonso Salazar's discovery of a newspaper article from El Heraldo de Chihuahua (October 27, 1974) detailing the death of Mexican soldiers in a "military transport" crash.
Uriarte and Torres also co-authored The Other Roswell: UFO Crash on the Texas Border (2008), a detailed investigation into two separate 1950s UAP crash cases near Del Rio, Texas: the 1955 account of Colonel Robert Willingham and the alleged December 6, 1950 crash at El Indio, Texas referenced in a purported Majestic 12 Eisenhower Briefing Document. The book is based largely on Torres's personal interviews with Willingham conducted near the end of his life.