Jim Sullivan’s “UFO” and the Story of Its Bizarre Disappearance in 1975 ~ Vintage Everyday

In 1969, a musician named Jim Sullivan recorded an album titled UFO. The lyrics were about him leaving his family and being abducted by aliens in the desert. Six years later, his car was found abandoned on the ranch. Somewhere in the New Mexico desert he disappeared and was never seen again.

The front of the LP UFO by Jim Sullivan.

James Anthony Sullivan was born in Nebraska on August 13, 1939, the seventh son of an Irish-American working-class family that moved to San Diego, California, during World War II. In high school, Sullivan was a rising guitarist and the quarterback of the varsity football team, and he met his future wife, Barbara, whom he married in 1960. While in college, Sullivan co-owned a bar that ultimately became a financial failure. . In the mid-1960s he played with the San Diego rock group The Survivors, with his sister-in-law Kathie as lead singer.

In 1968, the Sullivans moved to Los Angeles, where Barbara worked as a secretary for Capitol Records while Jim played gigs in the evenings. His Hollywood social circle included actor Dennis Hopper, which led to an uncredited role as a guitarist at a hippie commune in Hopper’s 1969 film. Easy rider.

After Barbara’s failed attempts to interest Capitol Records in her husband, actor Al Dobbs heard Sullivan play at the Raft club in Malibu, and decided to raise money to record him, founding Monnie Records for that purpose. In 1969, Sullivan released the album UFOrecorded with keyboardist Don Randi, drummer Earl Palmer and bassist Jimmy Bond, all members of the Wrecking Crew. Although its psychedelic country-folk style drew parallels with Gene Clark and Joe South, the album made little impression, as did the remixed version released in 1970 by Century City Records.

In 1972, Sullivan released a second album, Jim Sullivanon Playboy Records. Like its predecessor, it failed to arouse interest. By then, Sullivan’s professional struggles led to marital problems, and Jim and Barbara separated. Their plan was for Jim to move to Nashville, Tennessee, and once he reestablished his career, he would send for Barbara and their two children.

Sullivan left Los Angeles on March 4, 1975 to drive alone to Nashville in his Volkswagen Beetle. The next day, Sullivan was arrested by police on suspicion of driving under the influence. After passing a field sobriety test, he checked into the La Mesa Motel in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. After checking in, Sullivan bought a bottle of vodka at a liquor store and left town in his car.

Article ‘Missing Person’ published The Santa Rosa News; April 10, 1975.

Sullivan was seen the next day about 26 miles (42 km) south of Santa Rosa, near Puerto de Luna, on a remote ranch owned by the Gennitti family. His abandoned car was later found nearby, containing his money, papers, guitar, clothes and a box of his unsold records. Despite extensive searches by police and his family, Sullivan was never seen again.

Shortly after his disappearance, a decomposed body resembling Sullivan was found in a remote area several miles from where he was last seen, but it was determined that it was not him. Over the years, Sullivan’s disappearance has been variously attributed to suicide, foul play involving the police or the mafia, and alien abduction.