Hoyt Velarde Mile-Long Rhombus UAP near Dulce
On night patrol in a canyon near Dulce, New Mexico in 1987, tribal enforcement officer Hoyt Velarde and a second officer observed a massive, mile-long black rhombus-shaped craft bearing an orange leading-edge light, moving overhead slowly and silently.
Background
The Patrol
In 1987, Hoyt Velarde — a member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation and a tribal law enforcement officer — was on night patrol with a second officer in a canyon in the rugged country near Dulce, New Mexico. The area has a long-standing reputation for unexplained aerial activity, often linked in local lore to the so-called Dulce Base.
The Craft
The two officers observed a massive black structure moving slowly overhead. They estimated it at roughly a mile in length, with a rhombus or diamond-shaped outline. A single orange light marked its leading edge. The craft emitted no engine noise and cast no visible wake; it simply slid over the canyon walls and continued on its trajectory.
Credibility and Context
Velarde later served as director of the tribal game and fish programme, and Coulthart presents his testimony as one of the most credible first-hand accounts from the Dulce region. The size and silence reported are broadly consistent with the "black triangle" reports that multiplied through the late 1980s, though Velarde specifies a rhombus rather than a triangle.