Ray Dene Stanford

Ray Stanford, of Berwyn Heights, Maryland, passed away on June 14, 2025, at the age of 86. He was preceded in death by his twin brother, Dr. Rex G. Stanford, a respected parapsychologist and professor, and by his parents, Rex Arlington Stanford and Thelma Beatrice Gregory Stanford of Odem, Texas.

He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Sheila M. Stanford, and his three children from his prior marriage to Mary Kathryn Johnson Wilson of Mason, Texas. His surviving children are his daughter, Sharilynn Stanford of Anchorage, Alaska, and his sons, Joel Elliot Stanford, Joel's wife Bethany, and Jordon Avery Stanford of Austin, Texas.

A memorial for Ray Stanford will be held Saturday, July 26, at Holy Redeemer College Park, in the Four Seasons Room (lower level), 4902 Berwyn Rd, College Park, MD 20740. Gathering and visitation will begin at 10 a.m., with the memorial service at 11 a.m.

Ray authored several influential books, including Fatima Prophecy and Socorro Saucer in a Pentagon Pantry, chronicling the 1964 UFO landing in New Mexico. The Socorro book earned him an appearance on The Phil Donahue Show with Allen Hynek in 1976.

Ray began his journey of scientific exploration in the early 1950s while still in high school, building multi-stage rockets-some over 20 feet tall. He designed the rockets, engineered the nozzles, and mixed the fuel. When commercial funding proved elusive, Ray redirected his focus toward documenting and understanding UFO phenomena. He submitted one of his early observations to Fate magazine. To his surprise, not only was the report published, it was featured on the front cover of the May 1956 issue.

Throughout the 1970s, based in Austin, Texas, Ray pursued research into the paranormal and UFOs with the Association for the Understanding of Man and Project Starlight International.

After relocating to Maryland in the 1980s, Ray continued his UFO studies, collaborating with other researchers and scientists. Many significant UFO photographs were taken near his home, just nine miles from the U.S. Capitol.

Ray also gained respect as a backyard paleontologist. He frequently walked along local creeks, including Indian Creek just a block from his home. There, he discovered the fossilized imprints of two feathered dinosaurs lying side by side. A second major find occurred near U.S. Route 1, less than a mile from his house, in the sandy floodplain of Paint Branch Creek. It was there he uncovered a new species of nodosaur-a small hatchling he named Propanoplosaurus marylandicus-which now resides at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

Ray's most widely publicized fossil discovery occurred in April 2012 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Approximately 110 million years ago, dinosaurs, mammals, and even flying reptiles (pterosaurs) walked across a once-muddy surface, leaving behind an astonishing array of tracks-likely over a span of no more than two weeks. At the time of the discovery, only three other locations worldwide had yielded mammal tracks of that age, with no more than three footprints at any one site. At Goddard, over 30 mammal tracks were identified.

Ray will be remembered for his dynamic personality and relentless curiosity. A new book and scientific paper-currently underway in collaboration with colleagues-aim to analyze striking features captured in Ray's extensive UFO film archive.

Ray Stanford leaves behind a legacy as a modern Renaissance man: a seeker, a discoverer, and a visionary whose impact spanned from the sky above to the fossils beneath our feet.