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Background

UFOs, GOVERNMENT DISINFORMATION, PARANOIA & FOLKLORE COLLIDE IN A POP CULTURE MELTDOWN OF EPIC PROPORTIONS

Why do people believe?…New Mexico holds a unique place in the annals of UFO history, and this movie takes you to the heart of that rich history. Centuries-old Native American beliefs, government conspiracy theories and the search for spiritual meaning all take root in a subculture populated by enthusiasts, skeptics, investigators, abductees, and entrepreneurs.

Journalist Anthony DellaFlora and documentary filmmaker James Lujan delve into the state’s treasure trove of flying saucer lore, featuring alien abduction stories, cattle mutilation incidents, mass UFO flyovers, crash landings and UFO sightings. But that is only the background for this anthropological study of the people at the heart of the phenomenon.

High Strange New Mexico includes interviews with the late Walter Haut of Roswell Incident fame, investigative reporter Jim Marrs, cattle mutilations expert Gabe Valdez, pop culture commentator David Perkins, meta-physicist Henry Monteith and reclusive UFO researcher Tom Adams. You’ll also be introduced to conspiracy theorist Phil Schneider and hear about scientist Paul Bennewitz and their
connection to the legendary Dulce underground base.

Making High Strange New Mexico

High Strange New Mexico originally began as a book project in the summer of 1995. Journalist Anthony DellaFlora planned to write a book that would combine the rich history and folklore of the UFO phenomenon in New Mexico with a tongue-in-cheek tour guide to UFO sites around the state. After all, what other area can boast of stories of multiple landings and crashes of alien spacecraft (Roswell, Aztec, et al) an underground base full of evil aliens (near Dulce NM) the exchange of personnel between the military and aliens (Holloman Air Force Base, 1964), a Martian colony living beneath Mt. Baldy near Santa Fe, the famousLonnie Zamora sighting in Socorro in 1964, the first mass flying saucer sighting of the modern era (Farmington, March 1950), a classic hoax (the Aztec landing in 1948) an “airship” sighting near Galisteo in 1880 that presaged a wave of such sightings, and an event that served as the basis for the Nicholas Roeg film “TheMan Who Fell to Earth”? And did we mention cattle mutilations? All this in a state already rich with Spanish and Native American tales of strange lights and “little people.”

Filmmaker James Lujan planned to produce a five-minute promotional video for the book. However, after a visit to Roswell and a chance encounter with UFO enthusiast Henry Monteith over the Labor Day weekend, Lujan and DellaFlora realized they had a much bigger project on their hands and they devoted the next two years to filming and editing High Strange New Mexico.

They traveled all over New Mexico, gathering stories and amassing more than 80 hours of footage. Altogether, the pair interviewed about 45 people, most of whom appear in the film. The project was shot on Hi8 video and edited for under $10,000. The first cut of the film was completed in October 1996. The final, revised 107-minute version was finished in November 1997 and was selected to
appear in the Taos Talking Picture Festival, where it drew a sell-out crowd.

High Strange New Mexico Screenings

A working version of High Strange New Mexico was screened at the 1996 Roswell UFO Encounter. The world premiere of the full-length documentary was held March 28, 1997 at the Harwood Art Center in Albuquerque. A re-edited version of the movie debuted at the 1998 Taos Talking Picture Festival. Here’s a list of selected screenings.

  • Roswell UFO Encounter, Roswell, NM July 4 & 5, 1996
  • Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM March 28, 1997
  • Field and Frame, Albuquerque, NM March 29, 1997
  • New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, April 29, 1997
  • Roswell Inter-arts Organization “Close Encounters of the Filmmaking Kind,” film festival, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Roswell Incident, July 2-6, 1997
  • Farmington, (NM) Civic Center, May 17, 1997
  • Taos Talking Picture Festival, April 18, 1998
  • The Phi Phenomenon juried film and video show, ARC Gallery, Albuquerque, NM May 2, 1998
  • Aztec (NM) UFO Festival, May 23-25, 1998
  • Vista Grande Community Center, Sandia Park, NM, Nov. 21, 1998
  • REVelation International Film Festival, Perth and Adelaide Australia, March 1999
  • Blinding Light Cinema, Vancouver, British Columbia, Oct. 26-27, 1999
  • 17th Annual UFO Congress and Film Festival, Las Vegas, NV , Feb. 2008

Watch the High Strange New Mexico and watch this fascinating film on line. It truly is one of the best UFO movies you’ve never seen.

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