Earth is a very large and strange planet. Some places on our planet can reach -50°C one month and +39°C the next. In some places, almost bottomless pits can be mentioned. Despite all these oddities, we always feel the need to create more legends like the Mapimi Quiet Zone.
You can think of this region as Mexico’s terrestrial response to the Bermuda Triangle. The area is a 50-kilometer stretch of desert in the Mapimi Biosphere Reserve and is located in Durango next to the Bolsón de Mapimí.
Aliens and unidentified flying objects are said to be frequent in this region, according to local legends and Chihuahua UFO Investigator Geraldo Rivera told Atlas Obscura: “People often get lost in the area. When that happens, sometimes tall, blonde beings suddenly appear.”
This region is not only home to mysterious (and blonde) aliens, it also bears the name “Zone of Silence”. According to urban legends, this region has very unique and strange magnetic waves, so radio broadcasts and communication signals do not work in this region.
While the region has some pretty interesting stories, their reality is an entirely different question. At least three different meteorites have fallen in the area since the 20th century. The first of these fell in 1938, while the second, which fell in 1954, impressively fell on the same farm as the first. Later in 1969, another meteorite visited the region.
Rocket that crashed into the Zone of Silence
But these three meteorites weren’t the strangest things to fall into this region. An Athena rocket sent by the US Air Force from Green River, Utah in 1970 was supposed to land in New Mexico after visiting the upper atmosphere. But instead, he fell into the heart of the Zone of Silence.
No one knows exactly why this rocket went so far from its target, but the event quickly gained media recognition and was not forgotten for decades.
Nazi scientist Wernher von Braun, who strongly supported the advancement of the US space program, came to study this unexpected crash site with hundreds of locals recruited by the US Air Force. A 28-day extraction process began after the rocket was discovered, and Benjamin Palacios, owner of a UFO-themed farm near the site, says temporary dormitories, laboratories, kitchens, medical facilities were brought in and set up in the desert during this inspection. “They even built a runway to transport cargo directly to Houston,” he says. “They carried tons of debris on rails.”
So, it talks about an unexpected rocket drop, a mysterious investigation and cleanup operation, or even an area with a history of extraterrestrial activity, albeit in the form of lifeless boulders, all of which offers everything a multitude of conspiracy theories need. But the expected event took place in 1966 with an oil company discoverer and his troubled radio. Along with this radio problem, the region took the name “Silent Zone” as it is known today.
Why “Quiet Zone”?
He says that according to local stories and legends told to tourists in the area, meteorites that fell in the area, as well as magnetites underground, disrupted communications.
However, Andrea Kaus, who wrote his doctoral thesis on the Mapimí Biosphere Reserve, states that he or anyone he interviewed had no problems with their radios or compass while working in the Reserve. She says that the mutation claims reported in the region are also natural events and occur naturally in the mentioned species.
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