Chile: A 1908 Chupacabras Case?

Chile: A 1908 Chupacabras Case?

This older information – much like the 1947 cases we have been presenting this month – hails from the archives of the late Luis Altamirano, one of Chile’s most respected UFO/Fortean researchers. Raul Núñez of the IIEE currently has the files under his custody and is sharing some of its most interesting contents with readers around the world. The name of the original author of the article is given as Gonzalo Tapia Diaz.

The legend of the “vampires of Chañaral Alto” emerged that year (1908) in a small community located in the heart of Combarbalá (Chile’s 4th region).

On the night of March 9th, over twenty goats were found slain in bizarre circumstances on the premises of livestock producer Rufino Malebrán. Upon examining their carcasses, he reached the chilling conclusion that the animals had been drained of their blood. And that was just the start. Two days later, a similar attack occurred, but this time at Esteban Contreras’ ranch. Bovines and horses alike were killed in identically strange circumstances.

The chronicles say that an outsider -- Mañungo “el Pirquinero” (the Propector) newly arrived from the mining country of northern Chile – took it upon himself to unravel the mystery, keep a nocturnal watch over the ranches, hoping to come upon the culprit or culprits. Over four months, this unknown quantity had exterminated hundreds of goats, sheep, cows, horses and poultry. It was then that someone claimed to have seen, at a distance, a crag near Chañaral Alto where huge vampire bats slept – a kind of truly giant bat. Armed with this bit of information, Mañungo headed toward the indicated location. It was there – at noon in July 1908 – that he found a cavern, and learned that everything that had been said about this creature was true.

But it remained to be seen if these natural creatures were indeed responsible for the slayings. Therefore, the prospector planned a new course of action, again hoping to catch them at work.

And it was on one of these many evenings when, according to popular belief, the outsider learned the truth. But it is said that all his efforts were in vain, as his body was found the next day – lifeless and bearing two puncture marks, through which what little blood that remained in his body trickled out.

Old-timers conveyed the legend to subsequent generations, who forgot it until stories of the Chupacabras, or the giant vampires, became news again, returning to commit their deeds with the same vigor and intensity that they did in a forgotten area of the 4th region in 1908

(Translation (c) 2009, S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Raúl Núñez, Luis Altamirano and G. Tapia Díaz)