Interesting story.
Sorry you regret leaving NM. There are a lot of redeeming social and other values to living here. A fair amount of diversity for the USA small town America.
I'm 56. How old are you? When does Jr High start? I would been 10 in 1956. Might have still been at McCormic.
We moved to Farmington in 1954 during the oil and gas boom.
I lived at Ledbetter's old court on main st. then the house behind the Hotel on main(Later called HOT PANTS).
Went into the 3rd grade at the main school in town(too many kids! Class was only 1/2 days.) Then we lived on RUINS ROAD in Aztec.
4th grade I was in La Sal Utah, then Krtland, then Governordor, back to Kirtland then Aztec again. Aztec had the worst school lunches I have EVER eaten.
5th grade 1956, I lived on the San Juan river near the bridge and went to what we all called the McCormick school.
Then my dad got a wild hair and decided to move to the Ozarks. And my life went to Hell among these inbred *****!
I am 57 years old.
We didn't have much money when we first moved there so for Saturday night entertainment my dad would load us in the car, go down and park across from a bar on the south side of town and watch the Indians get arrested.
Around the time of this article air traffic controllers in Belgium, Holland, and other countries in that region were reporting all kinds of anomalies on their screens like craft moving at sudden right angles, with jets scrambled as this was the Cold War era.
Long, long before Roswell really was known a man offered to paint my house numbers on the curbs of my driveway. As I wrote the check he commented he was from New Mexico, Roswell. To which I responded about the UFO crash.
He was humble and looked down often but when I mentioned the crash he shot a look up into my eyes and croaked, "You've heard about that!??"
I replied I had and said some things about the crash and he resumed looking back down, but his eyes were racing side-to-side searching for something or someone with his breathing rather noticeable.
His hand went to his mouth to cover it while turning his head now to look around my quiet neighborhood confiding, "My uncle's [farm/ranch] was only [??] miles from where that happened... ." So I asked if it was true and he just nodded once, and then mentioned the Four Corners sightings in some detail, knowing someone there. He finished and though he had more work he could have done the street, he nearly ran off from me really worried and concern.
As you brought up the Four Corners sightings I thought I would add this tidbit.