One Of Our 50 Is Missing - June 2010

After more than two decades, thousands of our readers have shared their experiences of lost New Mexico in the "One of Our 50 is Missing" humor column, compiled by managing editor Walter K. Lopez. Tell us your experiences at fifty@nmmagazine.com.

SPEED OF FRIGHT: Destiny Mitchell, of Truth or Consequences, says New Mexico may not be missing, but it’s definitely been moved about 200 miles south, according to an episode of Fox TV’s hit drama Bones.

“As a native New Mexican holding a master’s degree in geography, I was astonished one night while watching the popular crime series Bones,” Mitchell says—“the episode that aired on Thursday, January 14, featuring Roswell, New Mexico. Toward the middle of the episode, an eyewitness sees UFO lights two kilometers away, over a ridge outside of Roswell, and Dr. Temperance ‘Bones’ Brennan [Emily Deschanel] tells Special Agent Seeley Booth [David Boreanaz], ‘That would put the lights in Mexico!’”

Ciudad Juárez is the Mexican city closest to Roswell, though it’s still more than 200 miles away. But, as with most Hollywood productions, taking poetic license is the norm, and the parties arrived at their destination (Ciudad Juárez) in about 20 minutes.

Quips Mitchell, “And they say the FBI doesn’t have alien travel technology.”

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM: Ronald H. Sonnabend, of Rio Rancho, says he experienced a few uneasy moments at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, in Houston, Texas, before boarding a flight to New Mexico.

Sonnabend was waiting in line to present his boarding pass and ID, but when it was his turn, things got uncomfortable.

“I handed the required documents over and expected to be waved through quickly,” he says, “but the officer scanned my ID and looked at my boarding pass. Then, the unexpected happened: ‘Do you have another ID with you?’ he asked me.”

When Sonnabend answered that he had only one ID, the officer freaked him out by speaking to him in a foreign language.

“I assumed it might be Spanish, but I don’t speak it, not even in a broken version,” Sonnabend says. “While he was explaining something to me, thoughts crashed through my mind: Does he not know that the REAL ID Act [of 2005] had been postponed? Does the State of Texas no longer accept New Mexico driver’s licenses? Am I getting stuck here in Houston?”

A few seconds later, the TSA officer realized his error, admitting that he thought Sonnabend was traveling to Mexico, and explained that his intent was to ask, in Spanish, for a passport. “I could only smile at him, and left,” says Sonnabend. “The last time I checked, New Mexico was still part of the United States.”