Ecuador: UFOs at the 1978 Rally?

We know that UFOs have shown an interest for all of mankind’s moving vehicles – planes, trains and automobiles among them – but this news item from Ecuador suggests that the intelligence behind the phenomenon has an interest in auto racing. Some details of this story are of particular interest: the mention of the mysterious Comodoro Rivadavia – Bahia Blanca area, and the “hoisting” of the car by an unknown source of light, which also occurred during the 1995 UFO Flap in Galicia, researched by Manuel Carballal.

Source: Hoy.com
Date: 03.16.10

Ecuador: UFOs at the 1978 Rally

Race car drivers Edmundo Carvajal and German-born Lothar Ranft were the only Ecuadoran team to participate in the Rally Sudamericano held in September 1978.

Carvajal and Ranft finished the race, which was an accomplishment in itself for an unserviced vehicle. But aside from participating in the race, both shared an experience involving an alleged UFO witnessed by a pair of Chilean drivers. The unusual situation took place in the penultimate lap of the Rally, organized by the Automovil Club de Argentina.

“We were leaving the Comodoro Rivadavia to Bahía Blanca leg,” explains the former tricolor driver, stating that the incident occurred during a normal stage of the competition. “A Citroen vehicle belonging to a Chilean businessman by the surname of Acevedo passed us before a curve, and this was followed by a very long straight segment, typical of the Pampas, some 80 to 100 kilometers long. I never saw him again after the curve. This drew our attention, because the vehicle wasn’t going that fast, to point that we couldn’t even see its lights.”

In the early morning hours, Carvajal and Ranft reached a filling station. They found Carlos Acevedo standing outside his car, co-pilot Miguel Angel Moya sitting inside, and many people surrounding them.

“When we got there, we asked them what had happened, because we noticed they were extremely nervous. He told us that after the long straight segment, they saw a very bright light come up behind them; they thought it was one of the Mercedes Benz units that were winning the rally. They were about to pull aside to allow them to pass, but the light became more intense and didn’t pass them by – it placed itself above them.”

“The light lifted our car,” Acevedo allegedly told Carvajal.

The light carried the car through the air for a few seconds, and at the end, they were deposited without a drop of gasoline in their tank near a filling station. Acevedo recovered from the fright, but his co-pilot was pale and in shock.

Skeptically, Carvajal noted that “it could have been a well-contrived ruse” but three things impressed him: “[Acevedo and Moya] arrived at the filling station nearly an hour and fifteen minutes before we did. This means an average speed of 4000 kilometers per hour. This was confirmed, because they took time to report the case to the local police. Their odometer showed that the vehicle had covered less than 70 kilometers. Add to that the co-pilot’s state of shock. One can make up stories, but it must be very hard to get into such a state on purpose.”

Once they reached Buenos Aires, the drivers of the Rally Sudamericano received their awards from Juan Manuel Fangio, the five-time World Formula One champion. There was a celebration later that evening. “We were in a group of friends talking to Acevedo. A lady approached and jokingly asked why they had made up the story about the UFO. They became annoyed with this person and decided to leave the party. Acevedo said that he was a serious businessman in his country and that discussing his experience could be harmful. But what they had experienced was indeed true.”

(Translation (c) 2010 S. Corrales IHU – Special thanks to Guillermo Gimenez, Planeta UFO)