Archive Gallery Two

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Born: 1945
Education: New Mexico State University (Business Administration)
Occupation: Business Executive (Retired), Independent Researcher, Archivist

Few individuals have devoted more time to understanding the mysteries surrounding Mesilla than Theodore Ray Mercer—known simply throughout the archive as TRM.

After graduating from New Mexico State University in the late 1960s, Mercer accepted a position with I.K. Enterprise, a regional company involved in land acquisitions, pipeline expansion, and propane distribution throughout southern New Mexico, Arizona, and northern Mexico. His work required extensive travel through some of the most remote desert regions in the Southwest.

Those years changed his life.

While spending evenings in the historic bars of Mesilla, Mercer began hearing stories unlike anything he had encountered before. Ranchers, deputies, prospectors, scientists, Border Patrol agents, and longtime residents all seemed to have their own accounts of strange happenings in the surrounding desert. Some stories conflicted. Others overlapped in remarkable ways.

One name surfaced again and again.

Captain Elias Voss.

Rather than dismiss the tales as local folklore, Mercer began collecting them.

What started as a personal curiosity gradually became a lifelong pursuit.

For more than sixty years, Mercer quietly gathered maps, photographs, journals, newspaper clippings, handwritten letters, witness statements, audio recordings, and rumors connected to what would eventually become known as The Mesilla Files. Unlike many investigators, he rarely sought publicity. He preferred listening to people over arguing with them and believed that even the wildest story often contained a fragment of truth.

Mercer is careful to distinguish between facts, theories, and speculation. He freely admits that many documents in his collection cannot be independently verified, while others have been confirmed through multiple sources. His philosophy has remained consistent throughout his research:

"Collect everything. Throw away nothing. Today's rumor may become tomorrow's evidence."

For decades, Mercer kept his collection private.

Only after meeting Dylan Carrillo and Spencer Clifton did he decide the time had come to share portions of what he had learned. Believing that a new generation should continue the investigation, he began contributing audio recordings, historical background, and selected documents to the TRC Research Center.

Although TRM often presents bold theories—including the possibility that The Mesilla Files connect two worlds or two vastly different periods of time—he repeatedly reminds investigators that theories are not facts. His greatest contribution may not be the answers he provides, but the questions he continues to ask.

Today, Theodore Ray Mercer is regarded as one of the foremost independent historians of The Mesilla Files. His personal archive remains one of the largest known private collections related to the mystery.

TRC Assessment: Theodore Ray Mercer has spent more than six decades preserving information that many others ignored. Whether every conclusion he reaches proves correct remains to be seen, but without his dedication, much of the early history of The Mesilla Files might have been lost forever.

Born: 1914 – Silver City, New Mexico
Married: Lawrence Jackson (1936)
Occupation: Librarian, Editor, Research Assistant

Margaret Jackson may be one of the most overlooked figures connected to The Mesilla Files.

While her husband, Lawrence Jackson, became known for publishing comic books inspired by the strange stories circulating throughout Mesilla, Margaret quietly worked behind the scenes editing manuscripts, organizing records, and preserving documents that others considered unimportant.

Friends described her as intelligent, patient, and deeply practical. Unlike many of the people surrounding Lawrence—including Sheriff Tomas Ortega, Father Miguel Serrano, and the mysterious Captain Elias Voss—Margaret approached every extraordinary claim with healthy skepticism. She believed remarkable stories deserved careful investigation, not blind acceptance.

As Lawrence's fascination with the unexplained grew, Margaret became increasingly concerned that he was collecting more than local folklore. She began noticing handwritten journals, maps, photographs, and correspondence that were never intended for publication. Quietly, and without Lawrence's knowledge, she started making copies of many of those records, believing future generations might someday need them.

Those copies would eventually become known among a handful of researchers as The Jackson Boxes.

For decades their existence was little more than rumor. Some believed the boxes had been destroyed after Lawrence's death. Others insisted they had been hidden away, waiting for the right time—and the right people—to uncover them.

Whether that story is true remains unknown.

What is known is that Margaret's careful notes, journals, and observations provide one of the few balanced accounts of the earliest Mesilla investigations. She rarely accepted extraordinary claims without evidence, yet she also refused to dismiss unusual events simply because they seemed impossible.

Her personal journals contain a statement that many investigators believe best describes her approach:

"History is rarely found in the loudest voice. More often, it survives in the quiet notes left behind by someone who simply paid attention."

Today, many researchers believe that if the remaining Jackson Boxes are ever recovered, Margaret Jackson's records may prove to be among the most valuable documents in the entire Mesilla Files Archive.

TRC Assessment: Margaret Jackson was not simply the wife of Lawrence Jackson. She may have been the first true archivist of The Mesilla Files, quietly preserving a record of events that others either overlooked or chose to forget.

The Mesilla Files investigation is led by Dylan Carrillo and Spencer Clifton, two lifelong friends whose curiosity about a collection of old comic books and forgotten stories led them into one of the Southwest's greatest mysteries.

Working with the TRC Research Center, they gather historical records, interview witnesses, recover documents, and examine new evidence as it becomes available. Their goal is simple: separate fact from fiction while preserving the stories, legends, and discoveries that make up The Mesilla Files.

Whether the answers point to forgotten history, misunderstood events, or something far more extraordinary, Dylan and Spencer are committed to following the evidence wherever it leads.

The investigation has only just begun.

Occupation: Professor of Psychology, University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)

Education: B.A., M.A., Ph.D. in Psychology – Harvard University

Specialty: Human perception, consciousness, the Mesilla Veil, and anomalous psychological phenomena

Dr. Thadius T. Malone is regarded by some as one of the most brilliant minds ever to investigate the mysteries surrounding Mesilla. His academic career began at Harvard University, where his groundbreaking work on perception and consciousness earned widespread respect. That respect faded when he proposed a controversial theory: that the region surrounding present-day Mesilla, New Mexico, may have been humanity's original center of awareness long before recorded history.

Ridiculed by many colleagues and feeling increasingly isolated within academia, Malone accepted a position at UTEP, placing himself within the heart of the Chihuahuan Desert, where he could pursue his own research free from academic constraints.

• The Mesilla Veil 
• Human perception of unexplained phenomena 
• Ancient geological anomalies 
• The Chihuahuan Desert 
• Consciousness and reality 
• Historical reports connected to Captain Elias Voss 

Dr. Malone believes the Mesilla Veil is real.

He argues it is neither a myth nor a supernatural legend, but a natural phenomenon created by an event that occurred millions of years before humans existed.

Rather than describing alternate dimensions or parallel universes, Malone simply refers to them as "other worlds." He believes these worlds occasionally intersect with our own in the Mesilla region, producing many of the unexplained events documented throughout The Mesilla Files.

Quiet.

Highly analytical.

Deeply private.

Malone rarely grants interviews and spends most weekends alone exploring remote areas of the Chihuahuan Desert. Students describe him as brilliant but distant, while fellow researchers often find him frustratingly unwilling to speculate beyond what he believes the evidence supports.

"The desert doesn't create mysteries... it simply refuses to explain them."

Although many of Dr. Malone's theories remain controversial, investigators continue to compare his observations with newly recovered journals, maps, and eyewitness reports. Whether his conclusions are revolutionary or misguided remains uncertain—but few question his dedication to uncovering the truth.

Status: Active Researcher

TRC Reliability Rating: High — Conclusions are debated, but his research is thorough and meticulously documented.

The records have been preserved. The investigation continues.

Create an image of Dr. Malone.