A Farewell to Mario Luis Bracamonte (1945-2009)

We have just received word from our correspondent and cattle mutilation researcher Raul Oscar Chaves that Mario Luis Bracamonte, director of the Circulo Ovnilogico Riocuartense (Rio Cuarto UFO Research Circuit - C.O.R.), has passed away after battling an unspecified pulmonary malady. Our thoughs are with the Bracamonte family and members of the C.O.R.

Mr. Bracamonte founded his UFO research group in November 1978 and was instrumental in reporting on UFO cases from his region of Argentina. His bulletin - SIO - provided interesting and useful information on various aspects of UFO and high strangeness phenomena, particularly during the 2002 cattle mutilation wave in that country.

"The C.O.R.," wrote Bracamonte in his group's website, "understands that the UFO phenomenon must be faced with an open and alert mindset, avoiding all sensationalism and anything that may represent a subject that eschews scientific scrutiny. We are all aware that from 1947 onward, thousands of persons throughout the world have engaged in a conscientious analysis of the UFO enigma, and they have contributed the most significant investigative results. From Rio Cuarto, in the south of the province of Córdoba, a handful of civilian researchers created this organization 21 years ago, and have consolidated their domestic and foreign networks with an enterprising spirit that is worthy of imitation."

Godspeed, Mario.

[Note: Daniel Enrique Lewis informs us that the cause of death was a cerebro-vascular hemorrage resulting from a hypertensice crisis without the possibility of a surgical resolution]