By
ALEX MISTRETTA
“Beings descended from the sky in flying vessels…”
Mayan Chilam Balaam.
Much like it’s fabled ocean counterpart, the Zone of Silence encompasses three geographical areas forming a sort of triangle with the states of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Durango in Mexico. A world away from the mythic waters of the Bermuda triangle; in fact the Zone is mostly desert. Still, once upon a very long time ago these areas weren’t so different. The zone was a thriving sea known as the Sea of Thetys. Today as it did then, the Zone sits north of the Tropic of Cancer and south of the 30th parallel, latitude it shares with the Bermuda Triangle and the Pyramids of Egypt.
UFO activity abounds in the Zone, and both this place and the Bermuda Triangle share similar geomagnetic disturbances. Compasses go haywire, and deep in the Zone, cars stall. Planes avoid flying over this area. Radio waves, short wave, microwaves and satellite signals will not penetrate certain areas; which is how and why the Zone received its name.
In fact, all navigational instruments malfunction, resulting in the only town within the Zone, Ceballos, having no television. Giant UFOs, strange humanoids, mutated cacti, deformed animal life, and strange stone structures, are all part of the lore associated with the Zone.
This area of Mexico lies close to the United States border that in 1970 resulted in a rather embarrassing situation for the United States. July 2nd to be precise is when panic set in at White Sands Missile Base. During a missile test, an Athena missile veered of course and headed straight for Mexico and crashed within the Zone, 400 miles away. The missile was carrying two small containers of Cobalt 57, which is radioactive. This fact added tension to a situation that White Sands was trying to keep quiet. No explanation was ever found or given for the malfunction.
Falling celestial objects, man made and otherwise, are a common sight in the Zone, pointing perhaps to a geophysical anomaly beneath this area. Scientists have estimated that meteorites strike the Zone every three minutes. The zone is also famous for its red and purple cacti and trees. These unusual colored plants grow next to regular green or brown cacti. If taken from the Zone, the cactus returns to a more normal green or brown.
Tortoises in the Zone display pyramid shape segments on their shells while tortoises in the rest of the world display hexagonal shapes. These tortoises also have no tail. Centipedes in the area are enormous at over a foot in length with purple heads and tails. Albino, red eyed lizards and snakes are common, and insects grow to two to three times their normal size. All strange, but these are not the real mystery of the Zone; but they are markers to something much more mysterious.
UFOs are a global phenomenon, with certain areas containing a higher concentration of sightings that others. Very few places in the world compares to Mexico for the frequency of sightings. What further differentiates the Zone of Silence from other areas are the presence of strange humanoids encountered in the middle of the desert, and the gigantic size attributed to local UFOs.
Perhaps, one of the most spectacular sightings on record occurred over Ceballos one evening in September 1976 (Uriarte, 2012). Over a dozen locals stood outside on main street looking at a triangular objects that was estimated to be over 800 feet, flashing blue, white and green lights.
A year or so before this sighting, a married couple who were in the zone on a amateur rock and fossil collecting trip, found their vehicle stuck in the mud when a severe storm hit the area. Ernesto and Josefina Diaz were stranded with the fear of a flash flood in the back of their minds. Help was the last thing they expected in such a desolate place.
So it was with some surprise when two very tall individuals in yellow raincoats came out of nowhere and offered to help. They told Ernesto and Josefina to get inside the car, and that they would help them get back on their way. Which is exactly what they did; their car was suddenly out of the mud and on firmer ground. Ernesto got out of the car to thank the two men, but they were gone. There was no sign of them, no sign of any vehicle and no tracks (Corrales).
Other ranchers and locals within the Zone occasionally report of strangers that a very tall and blond. Sometimes these strange individuals are seen on the side of the road deep in the desert with no vehicle in sight. To further compound the mysterious aspect of the Zone; there are also ancient ruins in the desert. Archeologists think that these are thousands of years old. The architects are unknown, but like Stonehenge, these ruins are thought to have been built for astronomical purposes.
So, like pyramids in the Egyptian desert and in the jungles of central and South America, like Stonehenge in Wiltshire; ruins in the Zone of Silence are about the skies. But, we were told this, perhaps even warned. The Mayan Popol Vuh tell us that, “ Men came from the skies, knowing everything, and they examined the four corners of the sky and the Earth’s round surface”.