Unknown over Zia Pueblo, NM

The report, as filed

I was parked alone in the small dirt parking lot at the foot of the BLM managed Ojito Wilderness. The Ojito Wilderness is located in the Zia Pueblo, just west of San Ysidro, New Mexico. I had been watching a particularly vivid sunset, facing south from the bumper of my truck. As the last remnants of light disappeared over the mountains to the west, I absent-mindedly watched an aircraft crossing my field of vision, traveling SE to NW. The shape of the aircraft was indistinct in the low light, but it was visible by a blinking red tail-light, or what I assumed at the time was a tail-light. It appeared to be a conventional aircraft. It may have been 5 miles away, although distance was hard to discern. The craft then stopped on a dime. From beneath it, a dull golden beam flashed out as though a light switch had been flicked. Around the dull golden beam, what looked like an iridescent double helix circled it. This double helix was darker gold in color. It looked almost like suspended molten liquid. Both the dull golden beam and the double helix encircling it hung below the craft (This light extended maybe 100 yards or so beneath the craft) for about 15-20 seconds. They both disappeared in a flash, again as though someone had flicked off a light switch with the light seemingly receding back up towards its source. The craft hovered for a moment, identifiable by its blinking red running light, before engaging in point to point travel seemingly randomly in all directions. It continued like this for 30 seconds or so. When it finished ping-ponging around like that, the craft resumed a normal flight path, as it had maintained previously. It continued in a northwesterly direction and I lost sight of it beyond the silhouette of Mesa Prieta. Conditions that evening were decent. Cloud cover was something like 50%, with a large band of clouds passing through an otherwise clear sky. The clouds were higher than the craft, which at no point was obscured by them. The moon was not quite full.

Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #161303). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.