Incident · 1964 · Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico
Holloman AFB landing film (claimed)
Also known as Holloman landing, Holloman UFO landing, Holloman film
The Holloman landing is a story, not a documented event: no film, record or named witness to the landing itself has ever surfaced. It comes from the filmmakers Robert Emenegger and Allan Sandler, who in the early 1970s were developing a documentary with the cooperation of officials at Norton Air Force Base, California, and from Paul Shartle, the base's audiovisual security manager. They say they were promised, and Shartle says he saw, film of a craft landing at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, with occupants met by the base commander. Accounts differ on the date, usually given as 1964; in the 1988 broadcast Emenegger put it about three years before his 1973 visit, and other versions say May 1971.
The footage was withdrawn before release, and the 1974 documentary UFOs: Past, Present, and Future told the story as a dramatised "what if", narrated by Rod Serling. Shartle repeated his account on live television in 1988, saying he was told it was purchased theatrical footage but did not believe it. The story's circulation through the same period and circles as the documented AFOSI disinformation of the 1980s, including the 1988 broadcast's informant "Falcon" (Richard Doty), leads many researchers to treat it with caution; others say the footage exists: the documentary maker James Fox said so on a 2023 podcast, according to a local Alamogordo report. In 2025 the astrophysicist Eric Davis, a former AATIP adviser, revived the story in The Age of Disclosure, saying George H.W. Bush had told him in 2003 of three craft at Holloman, one landing and a non-human entity meeting Air Force and CIA personnel, with film as the main evidence; Bush, he said, was refused it. Davis has given no evidence beyond his account of Bush's words, and no record of the event has been released. It remains an unverified claim.
Sources: UFO Cover-Up?: Live! (1988) · New York Post (2025) · 2nd Life Media Alamogordo (2025) · Wikipedia
Facts and claims
- claimed Paul Shartle, security manager and chief of requirements for the audiovisual program at Norton AFB, said in a 1988 broadcast that he had seen film of three disc-shaped craft at Holloman AFB, one of which landed on three pods and let out three beings; he was told the base commander and other officers went out to meet them. — Paul Shartle Source: UFO Cover-Up?: Live! (1988 television special) at 46:45
- claimed Shartle said he was told the film was theatrical footage the Air Force had purchased for a training film, which he rejected because he had no purchase record for it. — Paul Shartle Source: UFO Cover-Up?: Live! (1988 television special) at 47:49
- claimed Robert Emenegger said that the Pentagon, which had cooperated on his documentary, withdrew the footage at the last minute; the 1974 film instead carries a dramatised version narrated by Rod Serling. — Robert Emenegger Source: UFO Cover-Up?: Live! (1988 television special) at 47:38
- claimed Grant Cameron told the 2013 Citizen Hearing that the producers were given a film of extraterrestrials landing at Holloman and used 8 seconds of it in the final production. — Grant Cameron Source: Citizen Hearing 2013: Opening statements (Mitchell, Hellyer) at 23:01
- claimed A claim that a few seconds of the real footage appear in the 1974 film was later debunked: analysis showed the shot was part of the reenactment. Source: en.wikipedia.org (archived)
- claimed Eric Davis said in The Age of Disclosure that George H.W. Bush told him, in private conversations in 2003, of three craft approaching Holloman: “One of them landed on the tarmac and a non-human entity deboarded the craft that landed and interacted with uniformed Air Force and civilian CIA personnel.” When Bush asked for more, Davis said, he was told he did not have a need-to-know. — Eric Davis Source: nypost.com (archived)
- claimed In the film, Davis also says Bush told him that as CIA director in the Ford administration he “was not briefed on the legacy UAP crash retrieval program, but he later found out about it”, and that “there were a number of crash retrievals that had taken place since the uh mid 1940s”. — Eric Davis Source: Eric Davis: George H.W. Bush told him of crash retrievals and the Holloman landing (The Age of Disclosure, clip) at 0:08
- claimed In a 2024 interview Davis said Bush learned of the event, which Davis placed in the early 1960s, as incoming CIA director, from a Pentagon liaison officer who wrongly assumed he had been briefed; the main evidence was a film, which Bush was refused. In the film he says instead that Bush was not briefed as CIA director and found out later; the New York Post's account has Bush informed after his presidency. — Eric Davis Source: Eric Davis: “A US President Was Briefed on UFOs!” at 22:00
Connected files
People
- Paul Shartle (reported by)
- Robert Emenegger (reported by)
- Eric Davis (reported by) — Says George H.W. Bush told him in 2003 of a landing at Holloman, with film as the main evidence
- Grant Cameron (statements by)
Documentaries
- The Age of Disclosure (subject of) — Eric Davis tells of Bush's account in the 2025 documentary
- UFOs: Past, Present, and Future (subject of) — The 1974 documentary dramatises the story instead of showing the promised footage
Videos
- UFO Cover-Up?: Live! (1988 television special) (subject of)
- Eric Davis: George H.W. Bush told him of crash retrievals and the Holloman landing (The Age of Disclosure, clip) (subject of)
- Eric Davis: “A US President Was Briefed on UFOs!” (discussed in)
Mentioned in this file
- Government UFO disinformation (Concept)
- Richard Doty (Person)
- James Fox (Person)
- Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (Program)
- Central Intelligence Agency (Organization)
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