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After years of research he concluded that a clandestine government agency was responsible and that they used secret underground bases in the Dulce area for their experiments.

NM officer who investigated cattle mutilation, underground bases passes

Gabe Valdez (image credit: Open Minds Production)

Gabe Valdez (image credit: Open Minds Production)

Gabe Valdez was a former New Mexico state patrol officer in charge of the Dulce, New Mexico area. During his tenure, beginning in the 1970’s, he was tasked with investigating mysterious cattle mutilations. After years of research he concluded that a clandestine government agency was responsible and that they used secret underground bases in the Dulce area for their experiments. Valdez passed away on August 7, 2011 in his sleep at his home in Albuquerque.

Open Minds was notified of Valdez’s passing by researcher Norio Hayakawa, who investigates legends of an underground base in the Dulce area. Hayakawa introduced us to Valdez during Hayakawa’s Wake Up Now! Conference in late April of 2011. Our video producer, Tom Ruffin, was able to interview Valdez, some of that interview can be seen in a YouTube video below. More of that video will be posted soon in an upcoming production regarding the Dulce legends.

We were also able to interview Valdez at length last week on Open Minds radio. I am very grateful to Hayakawa for getting us in contact with Valdez. I had wanted to talk to him for quite some time. Prior to our interviews, the only other interview I had seen was from my favorite episodes of the SyFy channel’s Sci-Fi Investigates. The episode was called Paranormal Hotspots and was the only episode hosted by crew member and UFO historian, Richard Dolan. To have a state patrol officer thoroughly investigate cattle mutilations over a period of several years adds valuable information to the search for answers, even if his findings were controversial.

Valdez in uniform

Valdez in uniform in 1977. (image credit: Gabe Valdez)

During his investigations, Valdez had also befriended Paul Bennewitz and Richard Doty, the two people responsible for the creation of the Dulce underground lab stories. Bennewitz believed that humans along with extraterrestrials worked in secret labs near Dulce. Even though Valdez disagrees with that theory, he still had great respect for his friend. Researcher and Author, Greg Bishop, wrote about Doty, Bennewtiz, and Valdez in his book Project Beta. He believes that Doty, then an intelligence officer for the Air Force, was feeding misinformation to Bennewitz, a claim that was first made by another researcher and author, Bill Moore. Doty eventually claimed that he was under orders to lie to Bennewtiz in order to throw him off the trail of secret USAF projects he was observing and misidentifying as extraterrestrial. Regardless of these claims, Valdez helped Doty get a job with the New Mexico state police.

Valdez was known for his friendly and helpful nature. Having family from New Mexico, I quickly recognized his relaxed and kind demeanor, and his dry sense of humor. He reminded me of my grandfather and people whom I have met in that area of New Mexico, long time residents and Native Americans from that area have a similar demeanor. Even thinking about it now reminds of sitting back looking over deserts, mesas, or mountains covered in piñon trees, enjoying a sunset and a conversation that slowly evolves at a pace near that of the sun as it creeps along making its spectacular exit over the horizon.

I wish Mr. Valdez a safe journey and my heart goes out to his family members who will sorely miss him. He is survived by his wife and two sons.

You can hear Norio and I discussing Valdez’s passing on the August 8, 2011 episode of Open Minds Radio.

About Alejandro Rojas

Alejandro Rojas is a radio host for Open Minds Radio, editor and contributing writer for Open Minds magazine as well as OpenMinds.tv. For several years Alejandro was the official spokesperson for the Mutual UFO Network as the Director of Public Education. As a UFO/Paranormal researcher and journalist, Alejandro has spent many hours in the field investigating phenomena up close and personal. Alejandro has been interviewed by media organizations around the world, including the largest cable and network news agencies with several appearances on Coast to Coast AM.