Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Argentina: The 1968 "Night Visitor"





















Venturing into the dark vaults of South American UFO lore, Contributing Editor Guillermo Gimenez brings us the story of a major CE-3 of a kind reported elsewhere in the Spanish-speaking Americas in the 20th century.

Argentina: The Night Visitor (The Pretzel CE-3)
By Daniel J. López and Luis Burgos
http://www.ciencia-ovni.com.ar/elvisitantenocturnosolitario.htm

From the incomparable 1968 Argentinean – and worldwide – UFO wave, I remember that one of the most widely known and controversial cases involved an encounter between a young woman and a strange entity in the mountain ranges of Córdoba. Much has been said since then: that it was a hoax with the purpose of attracting tourists, that the protagonist herself confected the story, to a media-driven creation. Even today, naysayers hiding behind curtains will have a field day with it. The fact of the matter is that I was unable to travel to the site to inverview the witness. But in 1986, 18 years after the “contact” experience, I assigned researcher Daniel Jose Lopez of FAO, Bs.As., to reinvestigate the case. And the trip yielded results, since the eyewitness interview presented fundamental evidence suggesting that “something indeed happened at the time”. A story that was consistent, detailed and beyond all whimsical conexts emerged from the woman’s mouth. She was 37 years old at the time, nearly two decades later. Let’s take a look...

Villa Carlos Paz is a classic Argentinean tourist destination. It is located some 30 kilometers west of Cordoba. There we can find the “La Cuesta” motel, along Route No. 20 and some two kilometers from the center of town. It is owned by Mr. Pedro J. Pretzel. His daughter Maria Elodia, 19, helps her father in running the establishment.

Maria Elodia Pretzel is a determined young woman, well thought of in her community, and who is not given to reading science fiction. Early that year, she underwent surgery. After recovery, she assisted in managing the hotel. But her life changed one morning in June 1968: at around 1:00 a.m. on the 14th, Mr. Pedro Pretzel was driving back home along Route 20 when he saw “two large red lights over the road, too far apart to be the tailights of another car” some 50 meters from his motel. Finding the front door open was also disconcerting, as he knew his daughter to be quite concientious about such things. As soon as he entered the house, he headed for her bedroom, only to find the young woman spread out on the bed, unconscious. What had happened there?

After bidding two guests farewell, Maria Elodia went to the kitchen and found that a considerable amount of light was pouring into the hallway. Thinking that someone had left the living room lights on, she went in and was faced with a strange and extraordinary visitor: a large figure, standing in excess of 2 meters, blonde, hair combed backward with a friendly facial expression, stood a short distance away. He was clad in some sort of jumpsuit, light blue, covering his body from his neck down to his feet. Small luminous rays poured from his fingertips. In his left hand he carried a crystal orb that emitted bright beams of light. In his right hand he bore a ring, almost a gauntlet. According to the young woman, every time the being raised the gauntlet, “it was as though he himself rose into the air and remained suspended...”
At that time, Maria Elodia felt herself weaken and fall down, but when the entity lowered the gauntlet, she felt her strength returning. The being advanced toward her with a kindly, calm manner, moving his lips slowly, speaking a strange, melodic language that reminded her of Japanese. He said something like “cling-gling-crish”. At a given moment, the young woman felt a sensation of “bubbles in her head” and a feeling of perspiration, but when she touched her neck, she was perfectly dry.

Maria Elodia was able to dash for the safety of the counter, even as the entity moved the orb constantly and tried to get near her. She claims that she could hear, in the recesses of her mind, a message that repeated: “Don’t be afraid...”

Suddenly, the bright orb went out. The stranger stopped, spun around and withdrew toward the outside door. As he turned, the experiencer was able to see a kind of skirt around him, but the truly uncanny event occured as he approached the door: it opened by itself and closed as he departed.

From that moment on, Maria Elodia, who had backed away, remembered nothing more. A few moments later, her father arrived.

Dr. Hugo V. Vaggione, 33, knows the young woman well, as he is the Pretzel family’s physician. According to the doctor, she is a serious, somewhat introvered and very responsible person. He diagnosed her as being in a “pronounced state of nerves” afer the ordeal, due to emotional impact, but far from a breakdown. She was perfectly coordinated in her statements, and her blood pressure was normal. Finding her mentally and physically sound, the doctor can find no reason for deception or hallucination...

While the Pretzel Case does not present the physical evidence so longingly sought by everyone (footprints, remains, etc.) unofficial versions stated that traces of radioactivity were found in the motel’s carport and in areas where the “visitor” entered. There are only four (4) cases in Argentina where radiation has been detected.

This type of humanoid, prevalent in the 1960s and which is rarely seen nowadays, yielded its place to the ubiquitous Greys, which appear to have co-opted most of the entity case histories. There was, however, another close encoutner in Argentina with an occupant resembling the one in the Villa Carlos Paz incident. This was the famous encounter at La Florida, in San Luis, where a tall figure, similarly clad, appeared before three fishermen on the night of February 4-5, 1978. Regarding the correlation of cases, that night (June 13-14, 1968) involved numerous UFO and humanoid sightings throughout various provinces in Argentina. Right there, in the vicinity of the “La Cuesta” motel, local residents reported seeing “two very powerful red lights” in flight around 22:00 hours on the evening of June 13.

If the night visitor, who arrived from who knows where, waited for the last couple to check out of the motel before entering...did the imminent arrival of Ms. Pretzel’s father interrupt any subsequent actions (the orb blinking out and the entity leaving)? These questions will remain unanswered in this memorable case.

(Translation (c) 2010, S. Corrales, Institute of Hispanic Ufology. Special thanks to Guillermo Gimenez)

Non-UFO: The Gulf of Mexico

















The oil industry has the talents of the best geologists and geotechnicians at its service, and is the employer of choice for these disciplines. However, one wonders if an effort to keep the location of a major petroleum strike confidential -- having invested millions in 2--D and 3-D seismic mapping -- BP's quest for oil led it to pierce the main chamber, or a subsidiary one, of an unusual geological phenomenon discovered six years ago.

In the spring of 2003, the German research vessel RV Sonne was engaged in a routine survey of the underwater geological feature known as the Campeche Escarpment at a depths in excess of three thousand meters. Previous imagery of this location had shown the presence of intriguing traces of oil floating in the sea, and the oceanographic vessel deployed a complex video and still camera system to get a better idea of the phenomenon. Forty-eight hours after the survey commenced, nothing beyond the customary ocean floor was visible to researchers in the vessel above.

However, in the early hours of the morning, Mexican researcher Elva Escobar – part of the international and interdisciplinary team of scientists probing the mystery – noticed something truly unusual: while scanning the features on a monitor, one of the team members noticed what resembled a rock wall: a possible igneous volcano. But this guess was somehow unsatisfactory, given the great age of the Gulf of Mexico, which is older than the Caribbean Sea. A similar phenomenon on the Pacific Ocean, which is still geologically active, would have been readily comprehensible. So what was going on, in an area lacking volcanic activity?

The team’s dutiful research into this geological puzzle yielded unexpected results. All their data suggested that the “volcano” they had discovered spewed asphalt instead of lava – something they had never witnessed before. Several kilograms of random samples from the seabed only confirmed their astonishing discovery.

The underwater feature was given the name Chapapote, the Nahuatl term for tar.

Natural tar deposits, millions of years old, are often associated with oil fields, emitting large bubbles of gas. This new geological feature presented signs of natural methane hydrates and hydrocarbons.

These findings were published in Science, May 14, 2004.

The UFO Connection

THE UFO CONNECTION
By Manuel Carballal

An article on invisible aircraft which appeared in the El Pais newspaper included statements made by John E. Prike on the Aurora and other secret prototypes: "it is impossible to understand the mysterious phenomenon of these airplanes outside the UFO context." How right he is...

Probably many UFO cases, developed in very specific contexts, could be a product of this situation. Another specialized American magazine published the accounts of several qualified witnesses, including commercial pilots, who claimed having seen strange Delta-shaped aircraft of considerable size, bomber types, which dwarfed an F-16 escort. But these sightings of bizarre aircraft do not occur solely in the United States.

Toward late 1991, this author began a study on UFO sightings made by pilots, air traffic controllers, radar operators and related aeronautical personnel (See the monograph entitled Testigos de Elite, Espacio y Tiempo, Colección "Enigmas", 1993). Up to the present I have collected over 800 High Credibility cases from all over the world, and many of the pilots and controllers I've interviewed agree that their sighting could have been caused by very sophisticated ultrasecret prototypes.

C. Iglesias, to select a case at random, is an air traffic controller with considerable experience in the observation of all manner of conventional aircraft. In 1992, he was outside the airport at Santiago (Spain) when he could clearly make out a perfectly triangular object crossing the sky in bright daylight. The most serious concern, he explained, was that the object had entered a civilian air corridor, but in the opposite direction from that which is normally used. Fortunately, there were no airliners transiting the air corridor at the moment. In Mr. Iglesias' estimation, the metallic artifact was some sort of unconventional aircraft, perhaps on an experimental flight. But voluntary or not, such an imprudent action could have had disastrous consequences.

The controller at Lavacolla isn't the only aviation professional who believes to have witnessed some experimental prototype flying over Spanish skies. In an excellent article on the subject of pilots who have made UFO sightings, written by Javier Sierra and published in issue #1 of Año Cero magazine, there appeared a survey of 120 pilots conducted by the publication itself. Out of the pilots who admitted having UFO sightings, 13.79% believed that it could be some sort of experimental prototype.

The alleged triangular craft seen by Iglesias in 1992 was perhaps one such object. In fact, I myself have collected numerous triangular object sightings in Galician skies since 1993, and which were discussed with Dr. Leon Brenige, a specialist in theoretical physics with the University of Brussels. Brenige and I met at a UFO conference shortly after the beginning of the Belgian UFO wave in which triangular UFOs were seen (Brenige and other scientists were able to see one), and which resembled some of the Galician cases. But these triangular UFOs were not seen exclusively in Galicia, either.

On July 23, 1990, five members of the AVIPO group (Valencian Association for Parapsychological and Ufological Research) were on Mt. "El Prado" at a height of 507 meters near the municipal limits of Segart. At that moment, our friends from AVIPO boasted more than 300 hours experience in watching the night skies. Like many other research groups, they periodically organized skywatch activities at night in order to familiarize themselves with all kinds of astronomical objects and phenomena, meteorological conditions, etc., which at a given moment could be mistaken for UFOs. But that night held surprises in store for them. At 3:45, they saw a strange airplane, entirely triangular in appearance and presenting "V" shaped illumination. My field notebook still contains some of the AVIPO witnesses' drawings, which resembled the triangular UFOs seen in Galicia.

Another strange triangular airplane sighting was made on June 30th, and shortly afterward, yet another was seen in Gerona. Faced with these facts, Vicente Moros, AVIPO's director, wrote a letter to the air base at Manises requesting information on the strange aircraft. The following is Moros' letter, which provides even greater detail about the incident.


Valencia, 23 July 1990


Dear Sir:

I am writing you in my capacity as president of the Valencian Association of Parapsychological and Ufological Investigation (AVIPO) which among other things, researches the UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) phenomenon.


The purpose of this letter is to ascertain whether the Manises Air Base under your command, currently houses some sort of Spanish or NATO warplane equipped with an unconventional or nonstandard lighting package and which conducts North-South maneuvers every Saturday night, landing at the Base between 3:30 and 3:45 on Sunday morning, and endowed with an intermittent red light in its nose-cone, along with two or four white lights and a very powerful lamp which illuminates the ground, all of this in a triangular arrangement. Its trajectory has been observed by members of this organization, flying at very low altitude and slow speed, between 60 and 200 KMH, on one occasion (07/01/1990) over the A-7 expressway around Port Saplaya and twice (06/20/1990 and 07/22/1990) over Mt. Garbí and Segart.

Our reason for securing this information is of great importance to us since we conduct a number of skywatches every week and are familiar with conventional aircraft and their standard lights. However, we are completely ignorant about the signals of the aircraft in question and its origin. We have discarded the possibility of it being a commercial aircraft, since the civilian airport does not have any arrivals at that time of morning, and sources contacted by this association have stated that the light arrangement is "illegal."

Your assistance in this matter is crucial, for if this aircraft is not at your base, we suspect the possibility of a UFO such as the ones seen over Belgium and which were studied by the Belgian Ministry of Defense, or if not, a prototype of the USAF F-117A. We also have a short film of this plane which in spite of its brevity, is at your disposal.


We will take this opportunity to inquire whether the fighters at the Manises Air Bse have been scrambled in the past year to intercept any UFOs or unknown contacts over the Mediterranean coast. If so, any information you could provide this organization would be greatly appreciated in our efforts to contrast it with the testimonies in our possession.

We remain entirely at your disposal for any clarifications or joint investigation you may care to undertake in regard to the UFO phenomenon, which is researched by this association in a serious and entirely scientific manner.



Sincerely,


Fdo. Vicente Moros Bernardo
President, AVIPO


However, as in so many other occasions, the response from the authorities was brief and unhelpful. This is the only information which AVIPO was able to secure from the Manises Air Base:

Chief of the Secretariat
11th Air Wing
Manises, 30 July 1990


Dear Mr. Moros:


We are in receipt of your letter dated 23 July, in which you manifest your interest regarding an object seen on the 1st of June, 24th of June, and 22nd of June.

There were no aircraft arrivals or departures from this base on the date and time which you specify, and which presented the light signals to which you refer, nor evidently any aircraft of the F-117 type which you cite in your letter.


On the other hand, be advised that this Unit no longer performs air defense committments, and for this reason, our aircraft are no longer "scrambled."

Many thanks for your kind offer of collaboration with us in any investigation which may arise in regard to the UFO phenomenon.



Sincerely,


José J. Muñoz Castresana



It was quite some time later, in spite of the evasives of the Spanish Air Force's 11th Wing, that we learned the objects were American F-117s on their way to the Persian Gulf, flying over Spanish airspace as they did so. Perhaps they themselves, or their "cousins" the B-2's, were responsible for the sightings made by AVIPO.

We must bear in mind that on previous occasions there had been UFO incidents--some of them quite serious--produced by American planes that disregarded national aeronautical laws and invaded civilian airspace. In Testigos de Elite I mentioned the case of an Aviaco airliner which almost collided against five UFOs that strayed into its flight corridor. Radar detection of the UFOs and a quick warning to the pilot enabled him to avoid the unidentifieds that hurtled toward him...which turned out to be five American fighters.

What would have happened if the pilot hadn't reacted on time, and the Aviaco airliner had collided with one of the Yankee planes? The radar operator would testify before the board of inquiry that five unidentified echoes had merged with the civilian aviation codes on the screen. What would the official story have been? What would the air line tell the victims' families? Would the U.S. embassy confess that those responsible for the deaths of the passengers and crew were an illegal fleet of American fighters, or would it remain silent? Probably the talk about "some UFOs attacking the plane" would end up discrediting the case, and finally, the official story would blame the disaster on human error (since the pilot would no longer be around to defend himself). The radar operator would be accused of "seeing things," and the case would be discarded upon being consigned to the "high strangeness" file of some impudent ufologist who refuses to accept the official story...like yours truly.

Naturally, it's easier to blame such incidents on "Martians" than to face diplomatic conflicts over the invasion of someone's sovereign air space. But that is just one of many facets of the UFO phenomenon related to the military context. There are many others, even more serious ones.


The UFO Conspiracy

In June 1987, during the annual MUFON conference (the most important civilian association in the U.S. devoted to UFO studies), the most controversial documents in the history of ufology were made public: the Majestic-12 papers. This report, consisting of a group of 8 microfilms, was presented as a document provided by President Truman to his successor, detailing the autopsies and analyses performed upon four alien corpses and the flying saucer which crashed in Roswell in July 1947. Shortly after, these reports would develop into an absurd book: The Matrix, which would shake world ufology to its foundations--it detailed the story of an alleged secret pact between the aliens and the U.S. government.

Three years later, at another MUFON conference, William Moore, a well-known author and American ufologist (co-author of Incident at Roswell and The Philadelphia Experiment) made an explosive confession. With apparent remorse, he admitted to having been in the service of U.S. intelligence agencies for nine years, acting as a "mole" within the UFO community, transmitting the most important discoveries made by researchers to his masters and feeding disinformation to the same researchers. On that day, world ufology made a 180-degree turn, and some of the more lucid researchers began to realize the important role that the military factor played in this line of inquiry.

As Javier Sierra correctly describes in his article "La conspiración OVNI: Historia de un Watergate ufologico" (The UFO Conspiracy: History of a Ufological Watergate), William Moore's disinformation campaign began with the unfortunate Paul Bennewitz:

"Bennewitz, owner of a small manufacturer of electronic components, Thunder Scientific Company, was closely followed by the intelligence services at Kirtland AFB as a result of a series of experiments he conducted in early 1980 with a woman who had been abducted in the vicinity of Cimarron (New Mexico). Bennewitz believed that aliens had abducted the witness, implanted her with a microscopic device to control her at a distance, and also believed that with the exact electronic devices, he could intercept the signal leaving the implant in the abductee's body and trace it back to the alien spaceship. Along with Dr. Leo Sprinkle, world famous for his research in this field, [Bennewitz] commenced his first interception attempts. He finally managed to capture a signal that issued from within the abductee, but which would later be proven to come from the Manzano nuclear weapons depot within Kirtland AFB. This knowledge, coupled to sightings of strange lights entering and leaving the base, led Bennewitz to believe that aliens had occupied that restricted military zone." (?)

At the same time, the military at Kirtland, who at the time were working on the development of the initial phases of the Space Defense Initiative (SDI) known as "Star Wars", detected a "mole" in their computer system, who proved to be none other than a citizen named Paul Bennewitz! It was than that AFOSI contracted Moore to spy on Bennewitz, and after checking his interest in UFOs, proceeded to feed him all kinds of aberrant information regarding pacts between extraterrestrials and the Armed Forces in order that his suspicions that he'd detected "something strange" at Kirtland would not raise Soviet suspicions, with the added incentive of a historic moment in which the world was still experiencing the chill of the Cold War.

Rumors of a secret pact between the U.S. and aliens spread like wildfire. What other explanation could there be for signals received through the implant of an abductee which issued from inside an American military installation?

The "disinformation treatment" given to Bennewitz by the intelligence agencies worked perfectly, and the "spy" ended up in need of psychiatric treatment. "The government drove Bennewitz crazy," Moore confessed, "in order to bring the process to a halt..."

This incident was followed by a vast disinformation campaign against the ufological community by the U.S. government--disinformation which still continues. But the damage was already done. Bennewitz's discovery had opened the door to a troubling aspect of the UFO phenomenon: the manipulation of civilian populations by means of the extraterrestrial myth.

Synthesizing all this manipulations in a few lines would be too complex, since my intention is only to cause the reader to reflect upon all this. There are numerous aspects to this tapestry which has been woven since its beginnings in the 1940's, and even before that. But it would be useful to cite several particularly significant aspects. With this new "military espionage" aspect of the UFO phenomenon many significant cases came about, although they were perhaps interpreted erroneously.

"Proof" of the pact between the U.S. and the EBEs (Extraterrestrial Biological Entities) was centered by ufologists upon the ultrasecret Groom Lake air base better known as "Area 51."

The March 1994 issue of Popular Mechanics devoted its cover to this "Area 51." In this lengthy article published in this highly unsuspicious magazine, mention was made of sightings of strange aircraft which had been seen flying over the area. A true "UFO watch" was set up in the perimeter of Groom Lake, one which has since yielded photos and films of unconventional aircraft.

Some characters, like controversial physicist Bob Lazar, insist that after being hired as maintenance personnel to work in the base, they managed to see discoidal craft "similar to those photographed by Billy Meier." according to Lazar.

The story is longer and more complex, but elements such as the "communications" between the abductee's implant and Kirtland AFB, as detected by Bennewitz, or the saucers and other unconventional craft seen at Area 51, constitute proof to some American ufologists that the government has made a pact with aliens to exchange extraterrestrial technology for "abduction rights."

Maybe--only maybe--there's a somewhat simpler solution. Maybe saucers and triangular UFOs are merely sophisticated terrestrial vehicles. Maybe abductions, or some of them, are illegal genetic manipulation experiments conducted by the military. Or maybe...

Manipulation

A surprising book was published in Zaragoza in 1979, from Editorial Alvarez Esbec. Its title: Bases de OVNIS en la Tierra (UFO Bases on Earth).

This book, written in first person, was the purported biography of a Spanish youth born of American parents (his father was an alleged officer at the Torrejón air base) who was recruited by the CIA and trained to become a ufologist and contactee at the service of the American intelligence community.

Throughout 223 pages, the author, who calls himself Douglas O'Brien, explained how the CIA had furnished him with ufological documentation, credentials from Flying Saucer Review (FSR), threats to witnesses who'd seen too much, how he had organized "UFO alerts" in enemy bases so as to photograph them using UFOs as an excuse, and so on. In the end, the remorse he felt as a result of his actions, and the ultimate conviction that extraterrestrial UFOs indeed existed, led the "spy" to publicly confess his actions by means of the book. The story is certainly enthralling as a suspense novel and as a genuine foreshadowing of the military aspects of the phenomenon which would be uncovered 10 years later.

I was finally able to identify, locate, and meet the true author of the book, Francisco Javier Esteban, in Zaragoza in April 1994.

Esteban, currently a member of the skeptical organization ARP (Rational Alternative to the Pseudosciences), explained that the book was a novel crafted from UFO information gleaned out of an infinite array of sources, plus a pinch of fantasy. However, the "UFO bases on Earth" argument would apparently become true, precisely a decade after it publication in Spain.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Peru: Airliner Passenger Photographs UFO











Source: Con Nuestro Perú (http://connuestrperu.com) and Planeta UFO
Date: June 24, 2010

Peru: Airliner Passenger Photographs UFO

An Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) was photographed during a commercial flight over Perú.

The object was seen in broad daylight on June 18th during a TACA flight headed from Lima to Piura.

The object is visible along with some detail of the aircraft's wing. Around 3:00 p.m., one of the TACA passengers saw the object beyond one of the wings.

Not believeing what he was seeing, the passenger alerted other travelers, and was able to ascertain that they were seeing the same thing.

He then reached for his camera and took these photos, which were turned over to Con Nuestro Perú

The passenger is a renowned attorney who requested confidentiality.

[Aside from the considerable quality of the images, and the corroboration by fellow passengers, the fact that the Piura region has become known for its luminous phenomena is also noteworthy. See "The Piura Lights" entry earlier this year in INEXPLICATA -- SC]


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

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Chupacabras: A Study in Darkness (2001)












This article originally appeared in PARANOIA Magazine (2003). Special thanks to Joan D'Arc and Al Hidell. A decade separates us from the manifestations of the paranormal predator in Chile, the South American nation that felt its "bite" the hardest, prompting action by the national police force and even prompting questions in the Chilean senate. These manifestations went on considerably longer than the ones in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and spilled over the Andes into Argentina for a brief period of time. They are of interest due to the "protean" quality of the creature(s) involved in the attacks: eyewitness descriptions ranged from winged, simian creatures (such as the ones allegedly involved in the attack on a farmer in Parral) to entities similar to the one described in the Northern Hemisphere.


CHUPACABRAS: A STUDY IN DARKNESS
by Scott Corrales




No one knew the darkness as well as they did, these desert shamans responsible for supplying the sacrifices. They would stand in the cold desert night, the skies above filled with stars, waiting at a distance for the gods to appear. Generation after generation had learned the ritual and carried it out. Sometimes a dog, sometimes a young llama, the animal would be sacrificed and left out in the desert for the gods.

At sunrise, when it was no longer a sacrilege to approach the patches of desert where the gods had made their presence felt, the shamans would check to see if their offering had been accepted, and it always was: the carcass was now completely drained of blood, with the tell-tale puncture mark visible somewhere on the body--neck, hindquarters, stomach--indicating that the gods' thirst had been slaked. It was now time for the priests and the tribe to share the meal with the gods by eating the sacrifice's flesh, whose remains would ultimately be buried under a cairn as reminder of the bond between mortals and their deities.

Anthropologist Juan Schobinger has written that the northern coast of Chile faces the one of the richest seas in the world and one of the world's most barren deserts. This characteristic has granted a special archaeological value to the region's organic and ceramic deposits, causing experts to marvel at preservation of so many fragile and perishable cultural elements, such as basketry, textiles and food remains.

It has been further possible to reconstruct the rituals of the inhabitants of the Atacama Desert from chronicles kept by the conquering Spaniards or from oral traditions that still survive to this day. Dr. Virgilio Sanchez-Ocejo has noted that the museum of the city of Calama boasts an exhibit of one of the desert cairns, called apachecta, and the remains of a desiccated dog employed in a sacrifice...perhaps the only tangible link of a trade between gods and men that has gone on since the dawn of history.

Chupacabras in the Southern Cone

Chile, the longest nation on earth, is pinned between the Pacific Ocean and the towering Andes. The verdant rainforests of its southern islands, which number in the thousands, stand in stark contrast to the northern deserts and salt flats bordering Perú and Argentina. Known for its fine wines and fruit, this country first came to the attention of U.S. audiences following the violent overthrow of Socialist leader Salvador Allende in 1973 and the brutal dictatorship that followed under Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Chile had always been of special importance to UFO researches given its reputation as a "proven producer" of high-quality UFO sightings, due in great measure to the clarity of its nocturnal skies, a feature which had led a number of research facilities to build important optical telescopes along the Andean cordillera.

A world emerging from the threat of Y2K and facing the dawn of a new millennium barely gave little notice to the news stories which indicated that northern Chile was in the midst of a strange wave of animal deaths. On April 20, 2000, Chile's prestigious El Mercurio newspaper told its readers that a multi-agency meeting had been convened to look into the bizarre sheep and goat deaths occurring in the northern province of El Loa. The task force's goals were simple: determine what had caused 135 animals to die under mysterious circumstances and put down the perpetrators, which officialdom had a priori identified as dogs, dismissing all the talk among the locals that the dreaded Chupacabras might be to blame.

Lucas Burchard, chief of Environmental Hygiene and Food Control in Calama, posited the theory that dogs developed a taste for blood by biting each other during fights. Therefore it followed that packs of blood-addicted canines would go on cattle-killing sprees, after discovering that it was easier to drink their prey's blood than eating its flesh. Another agency, the Cattle Farming Service (SAG, by its Spanish acronym), informed the concerned locals that it would install baited traps to capture the predators and removed them, while the country's national police force, the Carabineros (who had played a major role in President Allende's overthrow) promised to use its infrared gear to conduct nocturnal patrols.

Yet even as these agencies took a pro-active stance regarding the mutilations, reports continued streaming in from all over El Loa province to the provincial seat at Calama. Dozens of dogs, hogs and chickens were now added to the roster of mutilated animals, even as reports of an outlandish predator were being brought before the authorities. Jose Ismael Pino, a farm laborer from the village of Huepil, told the state police and the media that a creature he called "The Bird" had been responsible for the deaths of four sheep and a cow in the area; on April 29, 2000, Pino had gone to fetch a bucket of water at around at ten o'clock p.m. under a moonlit sky when a shadow caught his attention. At first he thought it was a bulls belonging to the ranch he worked for, but "that's when I saw it. It hardly moved. It just stood there, looking at me. It stood about 1.50 meters, like a big monkey, with long, clawed arms and enormous fangs protruding from its mouth, as well as a pair of wings." The farmhand ran back to the ranch house for his hounds, whom he sent after the monstrous intruder. One of the hounds "returned with a bloodstained neck."

Local schoolteacher Carlos Villalobos did not hesitate to remark upon the strangeness of the attacks: "I think its linked in some fashion to an unknown life form, probably alien in origin, but the problem is that the authorities do not wish to acknowledge it, and this course of action may probably be justified, since a collective panic situation may be unleashed."

There were clear signs that the attacks were waxing in strangeness. On May 3, 2000, professor Liliana Romero was enjoying a good night's sleep in her apartment in the town of Concepción when she was wakened by the howling of five stray puppies she had adopted and kept in the building's courtyard as company for Black, her large mastiff. Fearing that a burglar might be at work, Romero carefully looked through the window and was startled by what she saw. The mastiff was huddled in fear against the wall as the puppies continued to whine. "I could see the back of what appeared to be an immense man, standing some two meters tall. It's shoulder blades were split, as though it had wings," she would later tell reporters. Professor Romero made an unsuccessful effort to get her husband to take a look, and by the time she'd returned to her vantage point, the entity had vanished.

The following day, Professor Romero went about her business and gave the matter no further thought until her children informed her that they'd found a dead dog near where the strange sighting took place. Her husband agreed to take a look at the carcass, which had "two deep holes in its jugular [vein], about as wide as a BIC pen, separated by 5 centimeters. What impressed me most was that [the carcass] was completely bloodless and light as a feather. The dog was incredibly wooly and in fact, I had to move its fur to see the wounds."

Within hours, three Carabineros officers reported to the Romeros' home to collect the mutilated dog, remarking on the similarity between the attacks on the canid and the animals found at other locations. The state policemen asked the Romeros for trash bags in which to carry their grisly find and then curtly ordered them to keep quiet about the event.

The dog was brought to the precinct and left in an office near the local prefecture, where many local functionaries were able to get a good look of the carcass, some of them even confirming Prof. Romero's remarks about the puncture marks and the dead animal's near-weightless condition.

On May 8, 2000, Jorge Torrejón, writing for the Estrella del Loa newspaper, reported that three young men travelling aboard a refrigerator van transporting 20 tons of fish from Lebu to Arica had a close encounter with the creature. Mauricio Correa, an experienced articulated trailer driver, was trying to park his rig not far from the María Elena salt mines assisted by Oscar Robles and Ricardo, an anonymous hitchhiker he'd picked up along the route. After parking the truck at 5:00 am, he turned off the engine and the lights and became aware that the vehicle's cab was tilting toward the right, where Oscar was sitting. The vehicle's lights inexplicably began turning themselves on and off. To their horror they noticed that a "very ugly animal, very hairy and black, having a long oval head, fangs and slanted, goggling yellow eyes" was staring at them through the side window. The apparition had pointed ears and "whiskers similar to those of a boar. It was something awful that was stuck to the glass for several seconds."

Recovering from the shock, the driver managed to get the truck going to make a report to the authorities. Oscar, his co-pilot, checked his wristwatch to ascertain the time for the report, but discovered that the digital timepiece had stopped, and later resumed functioning in a haphazard manner.

The drivers did not stop until they reached the vicinity of Victoria, where the frightened men waited for daybreak before getting out of their vehicle at a truck stop, where they had coffee and resumed their journey to the town of Pozo Almonte, presenting their report at the local Carabineros headquarters at 7:00 a.m.
The only evidence of their experience were the prints apparently left by the creature on the back and side of the trailer cab.

Ghastly encounters aside, the number of mutilated animals was increasing almost exponentially, prompting Judge Flora Sepúlveda of the Third Criminal Court to open an inquest into the strange deaths on May 10, 2000, ordering that the University of Concepción's Department of Pathology conduct an analysis to determine the causes of the events, if necessary by exhuming the remains of the animal slain to date.

The phenomenon itself was clearly unimpressed by all of officialdom's fussing and flapping: Twenty-four hens were exsanguinated in the commune of Lebu on May 14, and 30 more on the following night in the vicinity of Concepción, but these numbers would pale in significance when compared to the 500 hens slain on July 3, 2000 in a single farmstead--the Chilean Chupacabras was obviously playing for keeps.

Conspiracy in the Wasteland

It is conceivable that the Chilean animal mutilations may have been completely overlooked outside the country had it not been for a development which catapulted them to worldwide prominence.

On May 15, 2000, the Crónica newspaper told its startled readership that Pablo Aguilera, an on-air talk show personality with Radio Pudhauel 90.5 FM, had received a series of telephone messages from Calama and other points in northern Chile indicating that a family of strange animals, "possible Chupacabrases", as the paper put it, had been captured by the Chilean armed forces near the Radomiro Tomic copper mine. The male, female and cub were allegedly handed over to FBI agents who arrived in Calama from the U.S Embassy in Santiago de Chile.

The newspaper story made no mention of the creature's taxonomy nor if they had been taken dead or alive. "Police sources told Crónica that the capture of the specimens was real and that everything had transpired as originally told. Pure paranoia?" asked the unsigned journalist.

Chilean researcher Jaime Ferrer notes that the military stood fast by its "neither confirm nor deny" stance, but sources were able to determine that the three creatures were provisionally held in the stockade of the 15th Infantry Regiment based in Calama, but that an Army lieutenant was forced to kill the male specimen "because it was causing them too much trouble."

Adding conspiracy-enriched fuel to the fire, a retired air traffic supervisor named Patricio Borlone claimed that all flights arriving or departing Santiago's international airport had been put on hold while a cargo plane loaded two cargo containers with the NASA seal, allegedly containing the rare specimens in question. Borlone provided the flight numbers and departure times to substantiate his theory.

Transmitted via the Internet to the remotest corners of the world, the belief that the U.S. and Chilean governments might possibly be in collusion regarding these improbable creatures prompted a firestorm of speculation. Was the Chilean Chupacabras a American genetic experiment run amok in the barren salt deserts of Chile, as some believed? Or, given the area's history of animal predation, were the creatures natural inhabitants of the deep caves and passages under the dusty desert towns, perhaps brought to the surface by the mining companies' copper production? Even more disturbing were rumors that a security guard for the SOQUIMICH conglomerate had been clawed in the back by one of these hairy beasts, and that a Chilean soldier had allegedly been killed by one of the "Chupacabras" creatures during the operation that took them captive. If the U.S. was somehow involved, as many believed, the superpower saw nothing wrong with paying the price for its covert operations in Chilean blood.

Almost a month later, on June 10, 2000, Chile's largest UFO research group, OVNIVISION, spearheaded by researcher Cristián Riffo, announced that it would formally petition the Chilean Ministry of Defense to look into allegations of NASA involvement with the Chupacabras and the deaths of hundreds of animals in the country. During the press conference, Riffo noted that the belief that NASA had lost control "of at least three genetic experiments in Chile" was becoming increasingly widespread, and that the specimens in question would be the creatures responsible for the massacres. "Many persons agree that they have seen a kind of ape or mandrill with human features but with very large eyes," added OVNIVISON's leader. "An animal having these characteristics was hunted down by the Chilean military in the vicinity of the Radomiro Tomic mine near Calama, an operation in which one soldier allegedly died."

Riffo was not being overly dramatic in his statements to the media. Residents of Calama and its encircling towns and villages openly blamed NASA for the Chupacabras's apparitions and attacks. "The gringos had at least three genetic experiments run away from them and they've only be able to capture two," was the belief expressed by architect Dagoberto Corante, a respected citizen of Calama who informed Spain's EFE news agency that one of the captured specimens was kept "all day at the regiment's barracks until the NASA experts arrived to take it away."

Perhaps the most curious twist in the chronicles of the Chilean Chupacabras came when the Antofagasta Diario La Estrella newspaper featured a story on the discovery of "Chupacabras eggs", which suggested that the predator might be oviparous. A caller to the aforementioned Pablo Aguilera radio show claimed that Chilean soldiers had returned to their base near Calama-- after having encountered as strange creature during their nightly patrols-- carrying several of these "eggs", which were obtained the same day that NASA personnel allegedly came to collect the creatures.

The story involving the "eggs" came to a spectacular, if not downright explosive, end when the Chilean Air Force's fighter/bombers dropped an unspecified number of bombs between 8:30 and 9:45 a.m. on July 20, 2000, causing the earth to shake and creating a good deal of consternation, something that isn't exactly easy to do in a region accustomed to underground mining detonations.

The military aircraft allegedly took out a "Chupacabras nest" located in an area filled with small hills and mounds located between the town of María Elena and the abandoned Pedro de Alvarado mining camp. According to copper miners, erosion had eroded many of these hills into ideal locations for the creatures to hide.

Researchers suggested that an unknown number of breeding pairs of this creature may have entered their reproductive phase, and the government had seen this as the most opportune time for getting rid of them.

The forces behind the conspiracy to destroy the creature and silence any further stories coming out of Calama employed a variety of tactics, including an all-out effort to purchase the silence of individual witnesses, ostensibly to keep the panic from spreading and perhaps causing unrest among the mining industry workers who may suddenly have felt threatened by the entity. One of the most unusual events involved a promise made by unspecified "authorities" to the owners of an automobile destroyed by a hairy, simian entity with bat-like wings. In exchange for their absolute silence in this matter, they were promised a brand new vehicle of the same make and model. However, human nature being what it is, the victims could not resist telling their story to a friend, who in turn told the entire world on "The Pablo Aguilera Show". As the show's host noted, it was unlikely that the unidentified agency would make good on its offer after that.


A New, Improved Goatsucker?

In the monograph Chupacabras Rising: The Paranormal Predator Returns, this author stressed the physical differences between the creature commonly identified as the Chupacabras (small head, wraparound red eyes, kangaroo-like body, small arms and spines running down its back) during the Puerto Rican events of 1995-1996, the Mexican events of 1996-1997 (a huge bat-winged entity), the 1997 events in Spain (conflicting descriptions involving a mandrill-like entity and another with more canid characteristics) and the one seen in Chile during 2000.

Most of the Chilean reports agreed that the mystery predator had large, self-luminous yellow eyes that can mesmerize its prey, as occurred in some of the Puerto Rican cases. On July 14, 2000, two motorists were unwilling participants in a case which illustrates the strange properties of the creature's eyes. As they drove toward Calama on their way back from a civic organization meeting, the two anonymous women saw two bright yellow lights up ahead. Thinking it might be a driver heading toward them, the driver flashed her high beams. But as they got closer, they realized that the "thing" standing in the middle of the road wasn't a car: it resembled a very large, earless dog with long grey hair and a pair of immense, slanted yellow eyes.

The women and the "thing" exchanged looks for some five to ten seconds, after which the car drove off along the left lane. The "animal" followed their departure with its head -- an extremity capable of 180 degree turns.

"I felt a terrible panic," the driver told journalists. "I wanted to get out of the car but she [the companion] calmed me down. We saw the two yellow lights again, but this time they lit up the entire road before disappearing. I hit the accelerator and kept up speed until we reached Calama."

Researcher Liliana Núñez Orellana mentions a case in which a Calama witness was able to take a good look at the creature, describing it as very similar to a mandrill with black and grey fur, two very long eyeteeth and the curious detail of a nose similar to that of a pig or bat, and a hyperkinetic, nervous attitude as it darted around. The witness frankly admitted having nearly lost control of his bowels during this sighting. "It is known," writes Núñez, "that males and females of this species exist and that they appear to reproduce sexually." She points out a case involving a fire fighter who noticed that their genitalia was quite similar to that of humans.

Yet, as the old saying goes, the scariest monster is the one you can't see. This was certainly the case in the early morning hours on June 9, 2000 when residents of the town of Maria Elena felt the presence of a strange entity that they identified as "dense air" falling over the town. "It was as if something went past pushing against the walls, but without making any noise," according to a nervous local.

The Paranormal Possibility

Since the Chupacabras made itself known in 1995, three probable origins for its existence have been suggested: believers in extraterrestrial life consider it either part of the cargo manifest of an itinerant UFO that got left behind on our lonely planet, or else a cunning E.T. experiment whose ultimate purpose we cannot fathom; scorning any non-terrestrial considerations, others have successfully managed to weave the Chupacabras into the vast quilt of conspiracy theory by identifying it as either "a genetic experiment gone astray" or as a biological robot dropped off in the Third World by the New World Order's minions for equally unfathomable reasons.

But the Chupacabras' penchant for that sticky vital fluid called blood appears not to have made much of an impact among either of these two factions. Thus, a third faction composed of believers in the paranormal origin of the creature has paid closer attention to the blood factor.

Civilizations around the globe since the beginning of recorded history have considered blood as a sign of invulnerability and potency, a substance to be sacrificed to gods in exchange for divine favor. Looking back from our own century, we are understandably repulsed by the hideous blood orgies of the Aztecs and Mayas, whose high priests' hair was "caked with human blood" according to chronicler Bernal Díaz del Castillo. The demand for blood sacrifice by the God of the Old Testament is no less bewildering; yet we read of the mythical Roman king Servius, who thwarted Jupiter's request for the sacrifice a living creature by throwing in a small fish into the offering. The immolation of animals or humans for propitiatory purposes, according to German scholar Wilhelm Ziehr, stems from the fact that deities do not accept gratitude expressed through prayer or the acceptance of commandments -- only sacrifice, and the greatest sacrifice that can be offered is, of course, human blood.

In many traditions, deities both good and evil have craved for blood, or will perform services for a human sorcerer in exchange for it. In the Odyssey, brave Ulysses summoned the grim shades of the dead with an outpouring of blood from freshly slaughtered black sheep, and must the hold the howling revenants at bay with his sword so that only one of them -- the specter of the dead seer Tiresias -- can feast on the blood's energy and foretell the circumstances of his return to Ithaca. The ancients believed that the spirits of the dead lusted after blood, as did other beings belonging to the spirit world, which could be appeased with nothing less. As a result, the sight of blood created was highly disturbing, particularly among the old Middle Eastern cultures.

A number of contemporary authors -- Salvador Freixedo, John Keel, Anthony Roberts -- have done their level best to explain the seemingly insatiable need for vital fluids. Freixedo, for one, has noted that the entities crave not the substance, but the vital energy associated to it. Therefore, the manner in which the blood is released from the body becomes supremely important--the unwilling donor's pain and shock amplify the release of this energy, which -- observes Freixedo -- appears not to be necessary for the existence of these forces, but rather a pleasurable experience for them, much like the consumption of spirituous liquids by a human.

The preceding paragraph may smack of obscurantism and superstition to many, but the accounts from Calama which claim that the night air is rent by the howling screams of dying dogs suggest that this theory is perhaps closer to the truth than any dreams of alien intervention.

Jaime Ferrer, director of the Calama UFO Research center, has not shied away from this possibility, particularly after a conversation he held with a 91 year old desert native from a locality known as Peine. The elder told Ferrer that "his grandfather's grandfathers" were well aware of that these predators existed and that they were, in fact, gods who came to leave messages, adding the curious explanation that in the past, these messages were articulated as complete sentences, but now, they were numerical in nature. When Ferrer pressed him for an explanation, the elder replied: "Seven lowered by one, Thirteen lowered by seven, Four raised by two."

In other words, 666 -- the mark of the Beast.

The reader may share the researcher's disbelief at hearing this item of Biblical numerology from the lips of a desert nomad, but Ferrer's written account goes on to mention that these predatory entities were already known as Achaches ("demon-slaves") in the ancient Cunza dialect which predated the current Aymara tongue by centuries, and that the term is still commonly used among the tribal dancers whose performances feature these improbable beings.

Since 1995, researchers have reached agreement on at least one thing: whatever is draining animals of blood cannot possibly be doing it for its own consumption. Could we speculate that the decline of blood sacrifice in regions where it was once practiced has led to the appearance of an order of beings in charge of collecting it? Certainly the anomalous bloodsucking entities whose trajectory we have followed are drinking many times their own weight in the vital fluids of different animals.

Conclusion

Who or what were these strange deities feared and worshipped by the ancient Atacamans? Their existence has been recorded in a number of cultures ranging from Mexico to Mesopotamia, where blood sacrifices have been carried out at a given point in history. What would occur if the Atacamans neglected to perform the ritual? Did their deities send monstrous minions to collect the blood they appeared to need?

Derided by the intelligentsia as "phantasm of the Hispanic mind", the blood-sucking creature popularly known as the Chupacabras (or the Goatsucker) first emerged in 1995 in Puerto Rico, where its exploits in the municipality of Canóvanas became a matter of legend. But there was no reason why the Caribbean should have a monopoly over such an entity: in rapid succession, the Chupacabras and its kin spread throughout the southern United States in 1996 (southern Florida, Texas, Arizona and California) and began attacking both livestock and humans in Mexico during the same period of time. By 1997, reports were coming in from northern Spain, and the following year Brazil bore the brunt of its depredations. It would seem as if the Chupacabras waited patiently until the landmark year 2000 and saved the best for last--an all out wave of animal mutilations and confusion that persists as of this writing.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Argentina: The Beauty and the Saucer













Source:Diario Show (Buenos Aires)
Date: 06.21.10


Argentina: The Beauty and the Saucer

An astonishing confession by Cinthia Fernández, who claims having seen a flying saucer when she returned from a presentation in the city of Rosario. "I know that it seems silly, but it's the truth. You can't imagine what a shocking situation it was," adding: "It zig-zagged and had many red lights."

"I know you're not going to believe me, but I saw a UFO on the way back home. I'm terrified. I can't wait to get there!" This was the phrase that Cinthia Fernandez used to convey her paranormal experience on Twitter, as she returned home to Buenos Aires from a show in the city of Rosario that very same morning. But the story does not end there.

"I know that it souns silly, but it's the truth. you can't imagine what a shocking situation it was. I was very scared," Cinthia remarked, in an effort to explain the unexplainable.

"I believe in UFOs since I was very little, but I never thought that being faced with one would be so shocking. It was at 7:11 Hrs. today, as I drove along the road from Rosario. The UFO zig-zagged and had many red, white and blue lights. It was very ugly. At first I thought it was an airplane or a helicopter, because the lights were not very bright. But everything changed later and it terrified me," she said.

"The object kept up the game for over 10 minutes. Then I started screaming to my companion: "Go faster!" and when we accelerated, the light vanished upward vertically. Both of us witnessed the event, and speaking for myself, I'm terrified."

"It's a day I'll never forget. If my grandfather was alive, he would believe me, because he always gave me books about the UFO phenomenon. Now I regret not having taken a photo, but I was so terrified at the time that all I could do was scream!" adds Cinthia.

"And let me make it clear that I'd gone to work at a disco and had nothing to drink, in case someone is thinking that."

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

"Give us this day our daily cheesecake, but lead us not into temptation..."

Argentina: Cattle Mutilation in Colonia Belgrano











Source: Fenómenos Misteriosos and www.tacualchajari.com.ar
Date: June 1, 2010


Argentina: Cattle Mutilation in General Belgrano

[If it’s summer here, and it’s winter there, you can be sure that the cattle mutilation season is about to kick off in Argentina. Contributing Editor Guillermo Gimenez brings us the following account—SC]

What seemed a matter exclusive to other locations is now occurring in our area. A resident of Colonia Belgrano, near Chajarí, came across something strange in his field. “Chito” Sirtori is the owner of a property located in a rural area of the Department of Federación, where two cows were found with clear signs of mutilation: one on May 11 and another last Monday. Faced with this evidence, he summoned veterinarian Dr. Patricio Norman, hoping the expert’s verdict could offer an explanation.

The rural region of Colonia Belgrano and its vicinity have been convulsed by a strange situation that became known only hours ago. The well-known cattleman from the aforementioned Colonia is “Chito” Sirtori and is more than surprised at the situation involving two of his animals.

Dr. Patricio Norman provided us the photograph published here aside from some details on the striking discovery: “What we’ve seen is striking, at the very least. One shouldn’t rush to make conjectures but evidently, there are elements here that call for deeper investigation. What is surprising is the manner in which the animal’s tongue was removed. There is a sort of incision, and I don’t know if it’s an incision made with a very sharp object or something else.”

Bear in mind that on 11 May of this years, another dead cow was found 50 meters away from this one. The area is open and is a stubble field in a watermelon plantation. “Regarding the foregoing, it is surprising that the carcass vanished within 20 days, leaving bare bones and a large number of dead worms in the area, something that does not normally occur,” says Patricio Norman.

As for last Monday’s animal, four days would have gone by from its death: “Several hypotheses could be woven about the animals’ death. It could be anthrax or another pathology. But what’s striking is the way that its tongue was extirpated, including breaking the bones of the root, which isn’t a simple thing to do,” notes the astonished veterinarian.

The Brigada de Abigeato (cattle rustling police) of Entre Rios participated in this operation and information was sent to the authorities having jurisdiction in the matter.

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

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Argentina: Catalogue of UFO Sightings

Our friend and colleague Luis Burgos of the Federación Argentina de Ovnilogia (FAO) has sent out his catalogue of UFO sightings for the first half of the year 2010. While activity has not approached the levels of the now-legendary 2008-09 UFO wave, the first year of the new decade appears to have held its own.



CATALOGUE OF UFO EVENTS IN ARGENTINA
Compiled by Luis Burgos (FAO)
http://cienciaovni.blogspot.com/

DATE-PLACE-TIME-EVENT – TYPE- SOURCE

JANUARY


01-Vicente López,Bs.As-17.00-”PHANTOM” UFO-(Bibiana Bryson)
01-Temperley,Bs.As-18.41-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO-Hector Sly)
02-S.R.Calamuchita,Cba-12.22-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO-Marina Cuadrado)
02-Berisso,Bs.As-15.06-”PHANTOM” UFO Photos-(CICOA)
02-Berisso,Bs.As-21.00-Red UFO Sighting-(FAO- José Igoa)
03-Temperley,Bs.As-10.14-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Hector Sly)
03-Laguna de Padres,Bs. As-18.00-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO-David Ruiz)
04-Malargüe,Mendoza-01.37-Probable BOLIDE- (Mdzol on line)
04-Salsacate,Cba-Early Morning-Suspended Object-(FAO- Pablo Prece)
04-Vicente López,Bs.As-18.43-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO-Matías Mannara)
04-Vicente López,Bs.As-19.14-”PHANTOM” UFO-(Bibiana Bryson)
05-Macachín,La Pampa-17.21-”PHANTOM” UFO-(Fabián Romano-CEUFO)
Pr-Cosquín,Cba-Evening-Sighting /“Flying Train”- (FAO-Claudia A.)
06-La Cumbrecita,Cba-15.36-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO-Sebastián Ochart)
07-Ranchos,Bs.As-18.29-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO-Hector Sly)
10-Pigué,Bs. As-13.24-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Laura Babyaczuk)
10-Ensenada,Bs.As-13.51-”PHANTOM” UFO-(CICOA)
11-Ensenada,Bs.As-14.00-Sighting/Mothership-(FAO- Fernando Mengui)
12-S.R.Calamuchita,Cba-22.15-Parallel Sighting-(FAO- M. Cuadrado)
13-Temperley,Bs.As-15.31-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Hector Sly)
13-Ramos Mejía,Bs.As-Daytime-Sighting/Video-(ORBITAL VISION)
14-Firmat,Santa Fe-16.52-”PHANTOM” UFO-(CICOA)
14-Córdoba (City)-Afternoon-Sighting/Video/Signs-(Gaby Decall)
14-Castelar,Bs.As-17.50-”PHANTOM” UFO/Mothership-(FAO-R. Cordeiro)
Me-Villa.C. Paz,Cba-Evening- Video.HOAX (Martin Campilongo)
15-San Clemente,Bs.As-13.19-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Natalia. R)
16-Magdala,Bs.As-10.39-”PHANTOM” UFO.DUDOSA-(FAO- Hector Sly)
16-Valle de Lerma,Salta-21.30-Sighting w/Maneuvers-(El Tribuno)
16-Venado Tuerto,S.Fe-23.00-Sighting “rectangular object”-(CODIGO OVNI)
17-Necochea,Bs.As-16.00-”PHANTOM” UFO-(Bibiana Bryson)
18-Capital Federal-05.05-Sighting Pulsating UFO-(ORBITAL VISION)
18-Pueblo Liebig-E.Ríos-10.45-”PHANTOM” UFO-(COLOVNI)
19-S.R.Calamuchita,Cba-12.20-”PHANTOM” UFO/Mothership-(FAO- M.Nuñez)
19-El Hoyo,Chubut-15.34-”PHANTOM” UFO-(Hector Boetto)
20-Concordia,E.Ríos-MedioDaytime-Video Phantom UFO/Fleet-(El Sol)
24-Castelar,Bs.As-11.19-”PHANTOM” UFO/Mothership-(FAO-Ricardo Cordeiro)
24-Bandera,Sgo.Estero-11.20-Sighting/Spindle/Photo-(Nuevo Diario Web)
24-Magdalena,Bs.As-12.50-Sighting/Photo-(CICOA)
24-Mendoza (City)-Evening-”PHANTOM” UFO-QUESTIONABLE-(FAO- O. Karseno)
25-Loreto.Sgo.Estero-Afternoon-Sighting/Photo-(El Liberal)
25-Delta de Entre Ríos-Daytime-Sighting/Video-(Visión Federal)
28-Playa Unión,Chubut-Afternoon-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Luis Burgos)
29-Villa Ballester,Bs.As-13.39-”PHANTOM” UFO-(CICOA)
29-Cap.del Monte,Cba-15.30-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Mariana Goya)
31-Los Terrones, Cba- 16.35- “PHANTOM” UFO/Mothership-(GABIE)
31-Chascomús,Bs.As-21.30-Sighting-(FAO- Eduardo Galeano)
n/d -Arroyo Leyes, S.Fe-Daytime-Sighting/Maneuvers-(GABIE)
n/d -Bariloche,Río Negro-Daytime-”PHANTOM” UFO-(Fabián Romano-CEUFO)
n/d -(City) de Salta-Daytime-”PHANTOM” UFO-(CODIGO OVNI)


Total reports for JANUARY.................49
Total POSITIVE cases..... 45
Total NEGATIVE/QUESTIONABLE Cases...... 04
UFOs Observed.................... 16
PHANTOM (Invisible) UFOs................... 29
Recorded PRINTS................ 00
DAYTIME Reports.................. 38
NOCTURNAL Reports............. 11
Foremost Province............... 22 (Buenos Aires)
Remaining Provinces................. 27


FEBRUARY


01-Villa Ballester,Bs.As-18.33-”PHANTOM” UFO-(CICOA)
01-Cap.del Monte,Cba-Afternoon-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Sebastián Camellino)
02-Capital Federal- 03.00-Sighting/Parallel-(FAO- Inés Sabanés)
03-Vicente Lòpez,Bs.As-18.15-”PHANTOM” UFO-( Bibiana Bryson)
03-Ramos Mejía,Bs.As-Evening-Sighting/Video-(ORBITAL VISION)
03-Santa Fe (City)-21.05-Sighting-(FAO- Walter Lescano)
04-Córdoba (City)-Daytime-”PHANTOM” UFO-(Web Ana Luisa Cid)
Pr-Concepción,Tucumán-Daytime-”PHANTOM” UFO.NEGATIVO-( La GacetaTman)
05-Gral. Pico,La Pampa-12.30-”PHANTOM” UFO-(CEUFO)
06-Tolosa,Bs.As-10.46-”PHANTOM” UFO-(CICOA)
06-S. R.Calamuchita,Cba-12.17-”PHANTOM” UFO/Mothership-(FAO- Martha Nuñez)
07-Pigué,Bs.As-17.53-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO-Laura Babyaczuk)
07-Ramos Mejía,Bs.As-19.00-”PHANTOM” UFO-(ORBITAL VISION)
07-Arroyo Leyes,S. Fe-19.21-”PHANTOM” UFO-(GABIE)
08-Castelar,Bs.As-Daytime-”PHANTOM” UFO/Mothership-(FAO- Ricardo Cordeiro)
09-Temperley,Bs.As- 08.41-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Hector Sly)
09-Capital Federal-Daytime-Video PHANTOM-(Junior Silva, de Brasil)
10-Delta de Santa Fe-00.30-Sighting/Maneuvers-(Rosario3.com)
11-Temperley,Bs. As- 08.18-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Hector Sly)
11-Pigué,Bs.As-17.24-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Laura Babyaczuk)
12-Pigué,Bs. As-16.31-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Laura Babyaczuk)
17-La Plata,Bs.As-13.01-”PHANTOM” UFO/Mothership-(FAO – Roberto Sívori)
18-La Plata,Bs.As-12.33-”PHANTOM” UFO/Mothership-(FAO – Roberto Sívori)
18-Capilla del Monte,Cba-17.40-”PHANTOM” UFO-( Andrés Reynoso)
20-Castelar,Bs.As-Dìa-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO-Ricardo Cordeiro)
20-La Plata,Bs.As- 18.18-”PHANTOM” UFO/Mothership-(FAO- Roberto Sívori)
21-Río Hondo,Sgo. Estero-Green PRINT/ Buzzing Sound-(El Liberal)
21-Río Hondo-Sgo. Estero- 19.15-Sighting/Photo-( Web Termenses)
23-Pigué,Bs. As-18.00-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Laura Babyaczuk)
24-Pigué,Bs.As- 11.48-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Laura Babyaczuk)
24-Castelar,Bs.As-Afternoon-Sighting/Photo-(FAO- Ricardo Cordeiro)
25-Neuquén (City)-Evening-Continuous Sightings-(Canal 7 Neuquén)
27-Castelar,Bs.As- 17.13-”PHANTOM” UFO/Mothership-(FAO- Ricardo Cordeiro)
27-Temperley,Bs.As-18.11-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Hector Sly)
28-Plottier,Neuquén-00.30-Sighting/ Video-( Canal 9 de Bs.As)
Fi-Gob.Ugarte,Bs.As-Evening-Sighting/Video-(FAO-Luis Burgos)
n/d- S. de los Padres,Bs.As-Evening- Repeated Sightings-(CODIGO OVNI)



Total reportes for FEBRUARY............... 37
Provisional POSITIVE cases........ 36
NEGATIVE/QUESTIONABLE Cases......... 01
UFOs witnessed..................... 10
PHANTOM (Invisible) UFOs..................... 25
Record of Prints (Ground Traces)................... 01
DAYTIME Reports..................... 28
NOCTURNAL Reports............... 08
Foremost Province................ 22 (Buenos Aires)
Remaining Provinces................... 15


MARCH


01-Castelar, Bs.As-08.48-Varias “PHANTOM” UFO Photos-(FAO- Ricardo Cordeiro)
03-Vicente López, Bs.As-18.26-”PHANTOM” UFO-(Bibiana Bryson)
04-Villa Ballester, Bs. As-13.05-”PHANTOM” UFO-(CICOA)
05-Firmat,Sta. Fé- 18.18-”PHANTOM” UFO-(CICOA)
06-Monte, Bs.As- 13.48-”PHANTOM” UFO-(CODIGO OVNI)
07-Gob.Ugarte, Bs.As- 02.30-Sighting Nocturnal Light-(FAO – Luis Burgos)
07-Gob.Ugarte, Bs.As- 09.41-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Horacio Riquelme)
07-Lomas de Zamora,Bs.As-13.40-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Hector Sly)
07-Villa Ventana, Bs.As-15.39-”PHANTOM” UFO-(GABIE)
07-Pigué,Bs.As- 16.01-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO-Laura Babyaczuk)
08-La Plata, Bs.As-11.21-”PHANTOM” UFO-(CICOA)
09-Vicente López, Bs.As- 17.44-”PHANTOM” UFO-(Bibiana Bryson)
Pr-Victoria, E. Ríos- Green PRINT-(VISION OVNI)
13-S.R. Calamuchita,Cba-12.25-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Martha Nuñez)
13-La Plata, Bs.As-19.25-”PHANTOM” UFO-(CICOA)
14-Cosquín,Córdoba-13.52- “PHANTOM” UFO/Flotilla-(GABIE)
14-Monte, Bs. As- 15.56 – HUMANOID Photo-(FAO)
17-La Plata, Bs. As) -17.13-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Olga Paz)
18-Del Campillo,Córdoba-PRINT in sunflower field- (Puntal, de Río IV)
20-Gral. Rodriguez, Bs. As-17.35-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Sergio Boeykens)
21-Ensenada, Bs. As)-11.10-”PHANTOM” UFO/Probe-(CICOA)
23-S. R. Calamuchita, Cba-11.11-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Martha Nuñez)
23-San Marcos Sierra,Cba-Daytime-”PHANTOM” UFO-(CODIGO OVNI)
23-Capital Federal- 19.30-Sighting/Video-(Mariano Lattes)
24-Salta (City)-02.30-Probable bólido/DUDOSO-(El Tribuno)
25-S. R. Calamuchita,Cba-16.26-”PHANTOM” UFO/Spindle-(FAO- Martha Nuñez)
25-Castelar, Bs. As-16.35-”PHANTOM” UFO/Flotilla-(FAO- Ricardo Cordeiro)
26- S. R. Calamuchita, Cba-10.57-”PHANTOM” UFO/Spindle-(FAO- Martha Nuñez)
29-Castelar, Bs. As- 08.28-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO-Ricardo Cordeiro)
30-Merlo, San Luis-22.00-Sighting/TRIANGLE-(El Diario de la República)



Total reports for MARCH.................. 30
Provisional POSITIVE Cases........ 29
NEGATIVE/QUESTIONABLE Cases......... 01
UFOs Sighted....................... 03
PHANTOM UFOs....................... 23
Record of PRINTS (Ground Traces).................... 02
HUMANOID Reports................... 01
DAYTIME Reports...................... 25
NOCTURNAL Reports................. 03
Foremost Province................. 18 (Buenos Aires)
Remaining Provinces..................... 12


APRIL


02-Sierra deVentana, Bs. As- Daytime- PHANTOM UFO Video -(Bruno Nielsen)
02-Necochea, Bs. As- 21.15-Sighting Nocturnal Light- (Guillermo Giménez)
03-Necochea, Bs. As- 02.20-Sighting Nocturnal Light- (Guillermo Giménez)
03-La Plata, Bs. As-17.11- “PHANTOM” UFO-(CICOA)
06-Castelar, Bs. As-12.46-Several PHANTOM UFO photos-(FAO- Ricardo Cordeiro)
07-Castelar, Bs. As- 07.59-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Ricardo Cordeiro)
08-Castelar,Bs. As- 09.53-Several “PHANTOM” UFO Photos-(FAO- Ricardo Cordeiro)
09-Ensenada, Bs. As- 20.00-Parallel Sighting-(FAO-Fernando Mengui)
10-Castelar, Bs. As-11.25-Several “PHANTOM” UFO Photos-( FAO-Ricardo Cordeiro)
11-Salinas Grandes-La Pampa- 18.50-Sighting/Photo-(F. Romano-CEUFO)
16-Temperley,Bs. As-13.10-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Hector Sly)
18-Capital Federal-Daytime-”PHANTOM” UFO-(Web 24Con.com)
18-Lago Epecuén, Bs.As-15.12-”PHANTOM” UFO/DUDOSO-(FAO -L. Babyaczuk)
25-Lago Gutierrez, Río Negro- 20.00-Sighting/Triángular Object-( Patagonia OVNI)
26-S. R. Calamuchita,Cba- 15.37-”PHANTOM” UFO/Spindle-(FAO- Martha Nuñez)
28-Berisso, Bs. As-15.30-”PHANTOM” UFO-(El Mundo de Berisso)
30- Pocito, San Juan- Daytime- Sighting/Photo-( El Diario de Cuyo)
30-Capital Federal-16.17-”PHANTOM” UFO-(Víctor Sequeira)
30-La Plata, Bs. As- 17.00-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- David Ruiz)


Total reports for APRIL................... 19
Provisional POSITIVE Cases....... 18
NEGATIVE/QUESTIONABLE Cases.........01
UFOs Reported...................... 06
PHANTOM UFOs.................... 12
PRINT Records (Ground Traces)................. 00
Daytime Reports.....................15
Nocturnal Reports.............. 04
Foremost Province.............. 13 (Buenos Aires)
Remaining Provinces ................. 06


MAY


01-Morón, Bs. As-14.22- Strange Rings/QUESTONABLE-(ORBITAL VISION)
01-Morón,Bs. As-15.14-Phantom UFO Video-(FAO- Sergio Boeykens)
01-Pigué,Bs. As-16.38-”PHANTOM” UFO/Spindle-(FAO-Laura Babyaczuk)
01-Punta Lara, Bs. As)- 16.45 –Sighting/Photo-(CICOA)
07-Pocito, San Juan-12.08-”PHANTOM” UFO/DUDOSA-(Juan Barney)
07-Villa Elisa, E. Ríos-14.43-”PHANTOM” UFO-(Roberto Rebord-COLOVNI)
09-Lobos, Bs. As-14.03 -”PHANTOM” UFO –(FAO-Pablo Lopez)
09-V. López, Bs. As-16.42-Sighting/VIDEO-( Bibiana Bryson)
09-Gral. Villegas, Bs. As-18.33 -”PHANTOM” UFO/ DUDOSO-(Sergio Ferrero)
13-Villa Elisa, E. Ríos-14.00-”PHANTOM” UFO-(Roberto Rebord-COLOVNI)
14-Villa Elisa, E. Ríos-14.15 -”PHANTOM” UFO/ Spindle-(Roberto Rebord)
14-Mar del Plata, Bs. As- 23.33-Sighting/TRIANGULAR UFO-(Martín Malaspina)
16-VenadoTuerto, S. Fe- 02.30 –Long-lasting Sighting -(Lista Planeta UFO)
16-Ensenada,Bs. As- 16.43-”PHANTOM” UFO Photos-( CICOA)
16- Pigué, Bs. As- 17.45-”PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO-Laura Babyaczuk)
18-Castelar,Bs. As- 14.16- “PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO- Ricardo Cordeiro)
20-Castelar, Bs. As- 13.32- “PHANTOM” UFO-(FAO. Ricardo Cordeiro)
20-Villa Elisa, E. Ríos- 14.20- “PHANTOM” UFO- (Roberto Rebord-COLOVNI)
26-Chos Malal, Neuquén- 20.50-Sighting/Video/Spindle-(Canal 7 Neuquén)
30- Pigué, Bs. As- 14.21- “PHANTOM” UFO-( FAO –Laura Babyaczuk)
30-Villa Elisa, E. Ríos- 17.04-”PHANTOM” UFO-( Roberto Rebord-COLOVNI)
31-Villa Elisa, E. Ríos- 14.3-”PHANTOM” UFO Photos-(Roberto Rebord-COLOVNI)

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

Friday, June 11, 2010

Argentina: Fear-Inspiring UFO in Entre Rios











Source: Diario La Capital
http://www.lacapital.com.ar/contenidos/2010/06/08/noticia_0014.html
Date: June 8, 2010


[This interesting case again shows the depletion of water tanks by unknown forces – a constant in Argentinean UFO cases since the cattle mutilation wave of 2002 and the research into the mysterious draining of water from swimming pools and ponds conducted by Quique Mario since the early 2000s in Santa Rosa, Argentina – SC]


Argentina: Alleged UFO in Entre Rios
By Norberto Puntonet/ La capital

A farmer from Rosario who visited a farm in the Province of Entre Rios claimed having seen a UFO while in the company of both his son and the owner of the “El Rancho” rural facility. The curious event took place last Saturday some 23 kilometers from the town of Federal and some 400 km from Rosario.

This is not the first time the witness has seen a UFO, although he acknowledges that this time he was “very scared.” The man, who asked to be kept anonymous, has a potato stand at the Mercado de Concentración in Fisherton and when he has time, he visits a friend who owns a field in Entre Rios. Luis, a native of General Lagos, told La Capital: “I travel frequently to Entre Rios because of my job and I made great friends. This is the fourth time that I’ve seen strange lights in the skies over Entre Rios, but never so close by. To clear my head a little, I went to “El Rancho” this weekend with my son Guillermo. What we both saw, along with the field’s owner, left us stunned,” he admits.

Luis added that as they took some things out of their truck, the saw a light approaching in the distance. “It was nine o’clock at night and we were taking some things out of truck to go into town for fuel. We saw a light approaching us and we told the owner of the property, whose name is Guillermo Jorjato, if he was waiting for someone. He said no. The light was coming through the middle of the field and not along the road. We stood there watching, to see what it was.”

“Some 300 meters away from us was a windmill and an “Australian” water tank with a capacity of 125,000 liters. When the light reached the tank, it rose and remained suspended overhead. We could clearly see that it was a vessel shaped like an inverted platter. It was twice the size of the tank. I figure some 25 or 30 meters. It had red, green and gray lights that rotated but made no sound. My son wanted to run into the house for a shotgun to fire at the vessel, but I stopped him. What good was such a weapon against that display of technology?”

At that time, the property owner told Luis that he had never seen lights nor anything similar, but that he had on several occasions found the tank empty overnight, without finding traces of tire tracks or any water spilled in the vicinity. “After a brief while suspended over the tank, the device went straight up at an impressive rate of speed. We only heard a slight sound, but a sound of friction, not of a motor, like a prolonged “Z” sound. When it reached a certain altitude that I cannot imagine, two small explosions were heard, like rockets. I suppose this happens when the sound barrier is broken,” he reflects.

“The next day we went to see the tank. It was full of water. We don’t know why they didn’t take the water this time. They must’ve read my son’s mind and felt afraid!” Luis said ironically, although he admits to having “trembled like a leaf” at the moment.

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

Uruguay: An "Imp" Over Nueva Palmira

Source: La Republica (newspaper)
Date: 06.10.10


Uruguay: An “Imp” Over Nueva Palmira

COLONIA – It is the talk of the town in Nueva Palmira. Several local residents claim having seen an imp or an alien – opinions vary – over an electric power line. After repeated complaints, police officers and agents of the local Prefecture visited the site. [Witnesses] claim it measured 25 centimeters. It arrived flying and and would move around, bothered by flashlight beams

A colorful imp appeared in Nueva Palmira this weekend, suspended over a high voltage line leading to the port. The phenomenon was reported by several locals, who saw the phenomenon moving some four feet over the surface of the wire. Police and Prefecture personnel visited the area. The [figure] shrank until it vanished around four in the morning.

The phenomenon has caused a sensation in Nueva Palmira, after word spread that an alleged “imp” or extraterrestrial being had arrived, flying, to the corner of Calle Ultramar in the general direction of the port zone.

This is how journalist Roberto Tatto told the story on Tuesday on Nueva Palmira’s Cono Sur radio station, and how it was repeated to LA REPUBLICA, according to eyewitness accounts. “The event occurred last Saturday night at the traffic distributor that leads to the port,” he explained. “A shop owner came outside and saw a light. He was startled to see it at a given altitude. It remained suspended from one of the wires. He summoned his wife and some of his shop’s patrons to come out for a look. They approached and saw from below that the figure changed colors. It had the shape of a doll. They pointed a flashlight at it, and it started to move around, as if bothered by the light. It was a 25 centimeter long “doll” moving over the cable. Later on, the Police arrived with high powered beams and it began moving more, as if becoming nervous. It moved its head and shuddered.”

According to this story, the phenomenon was witnessed by several locals, who according to the fellow journalist “ were afraid to come any closer, because (the being) seemed be annoyed by the beams” as it stood over the high-voltage wires.

Hours went by and efforts were made to photograph with a cellphone, “but we later saw that it didn’t come out right,” they explained. The phenomenon lasted until around 4:00 a.m., when the figure contracted slowly until it vanished. A pearl-colored “goo” was left behind as the only tangible evidence, the local journalist told La Republica. He claims that the eyewitness accounts hint at something with characteristics that were “less than mundane.”

Discussion over whether it was an “imp” or an extraterrestrial manifestation continues to dominate the daily agenda among the residents of Nueva Palmira.



(Article by Gabriel Monteagudo. Translation (c) 2010 S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Ana Luisa Cid)

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Chile: Thoughts on the First UFO Summit Conference















Thoughts on the “First UFO Summit Conference” in Santiago de Chile
By NOUFA – CHILE (Newsroom)

Several photographs have been submitted to our newsroom, such as the ones we show you here. They are from the “First UFO Summit Conference” held on May 29th (2010) at a major hotel in Santiago de Chile. These photos show the presenters – including some major foreign guests – whose number almost matched that of the attendees to the event.

Were these photos taken during a coffee break? Have these images been sent maliciously?

These photos should serve as a cause for deep meditation. What really happened? Our purpose is to report on UFO matters with the truth at the foremost, and to say that on many occasions, what is exported and reported to people is a false image. The harsh reality that Chilean ufology is different cannot be denied. Moreover when it is linked with commercial and tourist interests and the prices, furthermore, are outrageous for the average Chilean.

Serious reflection is called for: Is it only an economic matter as such? A lack of interest by the public at large? Are we tired of seeing the same local faces? Do we need new premises when dealing with the UFO phenomenon? Have we already gone as far as we can go with ufology, and do we urgently need solid evidence of the phenomenon’s existence?

We would like to believe that the photos we received from this event were a joke in poor taste, as we feel that efforts related with the subject of UFOs in this country often slip out of our hands, but this is what there is, and logically, all we are left with is what comes out on television and public relations by the usual suspects.

(Translation (c) 2010, S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to NOUFA-Chile)

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Expediente OVNI - Cabo Rojo, 2002















Researchers Jose A. Martinez Echevarría and Luiseppi Quiñones (Expediente OVNI) have posted a video to YouTube concerning the sighting of an unidentified flying object over the town of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. "At Expediente OVNI", they write "you can see this astonishing video in which an object moves stealthily across the skies of Cabo Rojo. Aside from the video and narration, we are presenting some preliminary analyses regarding this mysterious phenomenon."

The video can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdbnde0mseQ

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Of Humans and Parahumans












































Of Humans and Parahumans
By Scott Corrales (c) 2010


“Is humanity alone in the universe?”

This question has bedeviled us for generations, although it might seem to be a recent query, a result of our interest in space exploration and the furious technological development that came about after World War 2. Others may lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of science-fiction, blaming our obsession the pulps of the 1920s and 30s, the “boys’ papers” of the 1900s, and the romantic descriptions of worldly life on our neighboring worlds in the late 19th century. Readers with a taste for trivia might go back to the “Moon Hoax” of the 1830s, when newspapers claimed that a fanciful civilization of bat-people lived our planet’s satellite. We can jump headfirst into the vast pool of history and find evidence that the question was raised by civilizations of the past.

This issue was hardly disquieting to the average person in the “ancient world” as we call it. Humanity was by no means alone. There were other creatures – the ones we now call mythological – sharing the world with us. Granted, some of these were creations of the ancient storytellers, used to get a copper coin or two out of frightened listeners. Strange lands beyond the reach of ancient galleys were filled with what we would call “humanoids” – infamous regions whose inhabitants used their enormous feet as parasols, or whose heads grew out of unusual parts of the body.

Closer to the marble-pillared cities of the ancient world, there were forests, lakes and rivers with beings that, while having a generally human appearance, belonged to other orders of existence: the nymphs, undines, nixies, pixies and others too numerous to mention. Interaction with these aliens was to be avoided whenever possible, as the outcome of such close encounters was usually detrimental to mortals. On rare occasions friendship of sorts might be struck with them – sometimes by farmers and fishermen, on others by practitioners of theurgy. Of course, rumor had it that a nymph or sylph could bestow sexual favors upon a human, resulting in progeny of uncanny powers. Much of the contactee lore – and even alien encounter reports – of the 20th century mirrors these ancient beliefs almost perfectly.

The Church, however, was less sanguine about this business. Neither scripture nor the lengthy arguments of priests and prelates included non-humans in the divine plan for salvation. These entities were ranked among demons, and were to be avoided at all costs, and the darkness of the Medieval period was compounded by fear. It was rumored, of course, that magicians and alchemists flouted this prohibition and had means of contacting these non-humans, and profited by their dealings with them.

And here we are at the start of 21st century, with thousands of years of ancient lore behind us and stacks of reports from every continent on Earth regarding “visitors from outer space” who act much like the creatures that troubled our forebears, emerging out of lakes and rivers, taking us by surprise in forests, and sometimes appearing out of thin air within our homes. Their aspect is as varied as the colorful devices that transport them, so we are faced with the question raised by the late Otto Binder – is every single society in the universe sending its citizens to our world, or is something very strange going on here?

Non-Humans at Twilight

On February 16, 2001, forestry technician Ingrid Sperberg, 26, a resident of the city of Angol in northern Chile, managed to meet her cyberpal Patricio Vallejos, 25, a systems analyst from neighboring La Serena. The two had agreed to meet in person after a long friendship over the Internet, and Sperberg offered to show the out-of-towner the sights of her home town.

Vallejo arrived at Angol's bus terminal at eight thirty in the evening, as sunset crowned the city. At the station were Sperberg and her friend María Cristina Sepúlveda, 42, who had agreed to provide the transportation for the city tour and act as an unofficial chaperone on their meeting.

Maria Cristina drove the cyberpals around Angol and at one point, the three of them agreed to visit a scenic lookout from where it was possible to see the entire city of Angol brightly lit and standing out against the surrounding darkness.

Arriving at the lookout at 10:15 p.m., they were surprised to find they were the only car at the location, which is variously known as "El Mirador" or "Las Piñas" by the locals. They parked their car some four meters away from an iron gate adorned
with cartwheels, which guards the entrance to a field planted with pine and eucalyptus trees. Sperberg and Vallejo got out of the car to enjoy the view while María Cristina remained beside her vehicle.

When the forestry technician and her friend looked back toward the field, they witnessed a white light ascending vertically from a distance estimated at some four hundred feet away. Rejoining María Cristina by the car, the trio witnessed a beam of light spreading open, fan-like, orange colored its base and soft violet at its top. According to their account, which appeared in a local newspaper, the beam of light "lit up everything some 40 meters around. Dry grass, depressions, the green of the trees and shrubs could be clearly seen."

The phenomenon lasted for some three to four minutes, during which a very frightened Ingrid Sperberg excused herself from her companions to get back into the car. A self-confessed skeptic about the UFO phenomenon, Sperberg stated, "I don't like seeing strange things."

A few more minutes elapsed before a solicitous María Cristina Sepúlveda went to check on her friend, discovering that the car's dome light, which had been hitherto working perfectly, did not activate upon opening the door. Puzzled, Maria Cristina repeated the maneuver a few times to no avail. It was necessary for her turn on the light source manually.

Meanwhile, Patricio Vallejo remained outside the car, taking in the veritable light show. Vallejo, who suffers hearing problems, did not notice the sound of "ringing bells" that the women had been clearly able to distinguish during the event.

The lights and sounds came to an end when the UFO abruptly vanished. Vallejo coaxed his cyberpal out of the car by assuring her that the coast was clear and that all had returned to normal.

He couldn't have been more wrong.

Sperberger became aware of a sound in the now-still night: a noise similar to that piece of metal being dragged over the loose paving stones of the country road they were on. "That's when I looked up, and behind the iron gate I could see two figures standing 1.20 meters, tall, dark, nearing the gate. They weren't walking﷓﷓they were dragging themselves along."

According to the event's protagonists, the beings' faces, hands and legs were invisible, and the entities gave the impression of being shadows. The nature of the sound was also elaborated upon later: Sepúlveda characterized it as sounding as though the beings "wore metal booties".

"When I saw them," Sperberger told journalists, "I looked at Patricio, who was alert to what was happening. At first I thought it could be people, as I struggled to find a rational explanation to what was going on. I heard the sound of metal. I’m sure that the figure on the left carried something strange, like two
metal rods, but I'm not sure what they were."

The entities halted their progress only a few feet away from the decorated iron gate. The one on the left crossed the iron obstacle as though it were non-existent, and following a small walk-around, made an about face and returned to the field, rejoining its companion. The shadowy pair moved away from the stunned onlookers; Maria Cristina shone her car's high-beams on them as they departed, but there was nothing to be seen.

Ingrid Sperberger's plea to her companions about leaving the place as soon as possible was well received: the three boarded the car and left the scenic lookout behind. By their calculations, they returned to Angol at 10:40 p.m., so the entire event lasted 25 minutes. María Cristina would later add that as the car departed, she was able to see one of the dark entities through the rear view mirror, apparently pacing the car, before dissolving into an amorphous black mass.

In retrospect, Sperberger and her companions agreed that the ghostly entities made no attempt to communicate with them, but that the beings made a noise similar to speech, a "mumbling" sound; during the event, all three agreed that the immediate temperature appeared to be much greater than it should have been for that time of night. The heat appeared to be concentrated in the area occupied by the witnesses (microwaves?). The unusual heat was accompanied by an odd smell reminiscent of "burning wiring" or "burning rubber".

Although Ingrid Sperberg was the one most ill at ease with the paranormal events, it would be her friend María Cristina who would experience the unusual aftereffects of the ordeal. Ever since the close encounter on February 16, Sepúlveda claims to have been roused from sleep by the sound of metal being dragged on loose stone--the clangor made by the shadowy figures. Given her religious beliefs (an Adventist) she has refused to consider hypnotic regression and has attached religious significance to her experience, particularly after a healing experience which may be related to the encounter.

Sepúlveda told the press that she had had a dream in which an entity completely different from the shadow beings--an angelic, luminous entity she describes as "a beautiful person"--healed her of a fleshy mass that was growing in the back of her throat, and for which she had sought medical attention. She awoke from the nitric experience to discover that the lump was inexplicably gone: a fact confirmed by her physician.

UFO researcher Ernesto Escobar states that the four friends were not alone in their experience, since his UFO study group was investigating a case which occurred on March 16 involving a group of five friends who had come to Angol to visit with friends and decided to stop at the scenic lookout, where they were startled by three beings standing in excess of six feet tall and with long arms and legs, who emerged from behind some shrubs. After talking among themselves -- at least that was the eyewitnesses' impression -- the entities turned around and vanished.

Escobar's team has focused its attention on collecting soil samples from the ground allegedly trodden by the tall entities, and upon an anomalous spring not far from the metal fence where the sighting took place. The liquid coming from this spring has been described as having a "gelatinous" quality and "an unknown type of chloration was discovered upon analysis", stated the researcher to reporters from the Diario Austral de Temuco, adding that "the importance of these apparitions resides in that they are events which repeat themselves at the same place, the number of people who have witnessed them is significant, the object are highly mobile and close to the ground, and feature the apparition of humanoid figures."

In the Mexican Wilderness

The Mexican town of Tepoztlán, roughly an hour's drive from the urban sprawl of Mexico City, is probably better known than any other place in that country for its UFO visitations, which have been captured on video and still photographs by hundreds of witnesses and conveyed around the world through documentaries and live broadcasts. The town, which has become a "new age" mecca over the course of the last century due to its ancient ruins and reputation as a focal point for benign earth energies, also boasts stories of alien contact which are somewhat less known.

One of these is chronicled in Luis Ramírez Reyes's Contacto: México (Diana, 1995) concerning the experiences of Concepción Navarrete, a poor woman who operated a food stand at the base of the majestic rock formation known as El Tepozteco, a favorite UFO haunt. One day, according to Mrs. Navarrete, she was startled by the presence of a very odd creature standing near a cross-like structure marking the site where the coronations of ancient Chichimec monarchs took place. "I was deeply shocked," said the witness, "because he was facing away from me and he looked like a giant lizard, upright, standing some two meters tall. His skin was green and covered in scales." She added that the lizard being's back had a leaden grey cast to it, and the whole creature seemed to have emerged from the mud.
What occurred next was probably even more incredible. The reptilian entity made a sudden about-face, as if realizing that it was being spied upon. But at that very moment, its reptilian image was replaced by that of a "blond, cordial American tourist" who inquired-- telepathically and in a somewhat mocking tone--if she had been startled by his presence. Feeling her senses overwhelmed by the entity, Navarrete cried out for help as another tourist approached. The lizard man subsequently vanished as if he had never been there. The approaching tourist calmly told Navarrete, to her astonishment, that he was aware of the lizard beings and their penchant for adopting human guise to wander among us...much in the same manner as the “gods” of yore.

Wave Hi To The Michelin Man!

On Sunday, March 14, 1976, the last thing on the minds of Vicente Corell and his wife Carmen was an encounter with beings from another world. Their son had just been drafted in Spain's compulsory military service and tearful goodbyes had been exchanged at the Draftee Induction Center (CIR-7) located in the town of Marines. After spending the day in the local, the Corells began the long trip home to the town of Almenara, driving along small roads of Spain's Castellon region.

At around 10:00 p.m., the couple found itself facing a strange phenomenon in the night skies -- a brilliant white oval that floated lazily to the left of their own car. Believing at first that it might be the headlights of a car on a nearby hill, the Corells steered their Renault 4L toward their ultimate destination. No sooner had the vehicle gone a few hundred feet did they become aware of the fact that all was not well.

The alarmed couple thought that they were driving into a "luminous tornado" of sorts as a very curious object appeared to rise out of the ground. Bathing the object with his car's high beams, Mr. Corell was startled to see that it was a person.

"I suppose that it had two legs," he would tell distinguished Spanish investigator Juan José Benítez, who investigated the case. "because it reminded me of a human profile. However, since they [the legs] were so close together, it looked more like a column than a human being. The thing was tall, good-looking [sic] and wore a close fitting, one-piece outfit..."

The outlandish entity stood on the ground in what Vicente Corell described as a military "ten-hut" position --arms stiffly at its side and ramrod straight, looking at the oncoming vehicle.

The couple's initial fascination changed to fear as the Renault's lights suddenly went out, leaving them in pitch blackness. The smell of burning wires soon filled the passenger compartment and Corell was forced to pull over. While all this happened, the entity vanished into the darkness. Vicente and Carmen Corell, their car's electrical system ruined, were left to wonder what had happened.
According to researcher Benítez, Mrs. Corell proved to have a much better recall of the situation than her husband, adding the interesting detail that the entity's outfit was made of "narrow, slightly inflated bands" from its neck down to its waist. She went as far as to describe the entity as similar to Bibendum, the world-famous Michelin Man, "only less so."

While such a simile may inspire some to smile and others to shake their heads, it was not the first time that such a creature would had been seen on the Spanish peninsula.

In the summer of 1960, Miguel Timermans, a schoolteacher from Prado del Rey (Cadiz) in southern Spain, decided to go on a weekend run on his Lambretta motorcycle to the city of Jerez. It was a clear, beautiful morning and visibility was unlimited. As he drove uphill at some point between Prado del Rey and the town of Arcos, a colossal figure appeared out of nowhere along the roadside. Timermans described it as well over two meters (6.5 ft.) and encased in a "swollen" red one-piece suit. Shocked, the teacher brought his motorcycle to a halt right in the middle of the highway as an overpowering sense of fear washed over him: the giant entity was slowly walking toward him along the edge of the highway.

Recalling the event, Timermans remarked that the creature's pressure suit or outfit was composed of "concentric rings" which also reminded him of the Michelin Man. The improbable figure lurched forward robotically and measuring its steps. With the high-strangeness quotient overflowing at this point, Timermans was doubly startled to see another creature walking behind the giant! The second entity was barely over a meter tall and had what appeared to be a glossy black "boot" covering one of the legs of its red outfit. It, too, walked awkwardly as it brought up the rear.

The enigmatic figures crossed Timerman's path diagonally and vanished from sight after an encounter that lasted no more than 30 seconds. Kick-starting the Lambretta, the teacher headed for the place where the creatures had last been seen and was unable to find a trace of their presence. The astonishing case was reported in Stendek magazine.

The November 1974 issue of the French UFO publication Lumiéres dans la Nuit featured a fascinating Belgian case whose detail closely resemble those of the Spanish and Argentinean events.

On January 7, 1974, a 31 year old Belgian man known only as "Monsieur X" (an anonymous designation used to excess in European cases!) was driving his car between the towns of Comines and Warneton on the border between France and Belgium. The time was shortly before 9 p.m. on a clear, damp winter night when "Monsieur X" 's vehicle, which had been functioning flawlessly, suddenly sputtered to a halt as the headlights went out. As the vehicle coasted to a halt on the otherwise empty roadway, the driver became aware of an object some 300 feet away in a field bordering the road. At first he took it to be a stack of hay, but almost immediately noticed that the "haystack" was propped up on three struts. The witness would later go on to say that the object had the basin-shape of a W.W.I soldier's helmet.

Fascinated by the yellowish-white light issuing from the distant vehicle, "Monsieur X" was unaware of two figures walking toward his vehicle in the moonlit darkness. At first he took them to be a farmer and his son, attracted, perhaps by the singular object in the field. Casting a second look, he realized his mistake.

The two beings could not have been less farmer-like: striding toward the car with stiff, deliberate paces, the shorter of the two resembled Bibendum, the Michelin Man, only with rings not as clearly delineated as those on the famous corporate image. The being's circular helmet concealed a featureless pear-shaped face with dark sockets; its taller companion had a similarly grotesque visage but did not resemble its counterpart.

Given their deliberate movements and the brightness of the moonlight, "Monsieur X" was able to make out a number of interesting details, such as the fact that the short "Michelin Man"-like figure appeared armed with a triangular weapon in its hand and that both figures had heavy, pointed boots.

The two entities came to within thirteen feet of the car before stopping. "Monsieur X" claimed to have felt a "shock" to the base of his skull followed by a low-pitched sound that became increasingly louder. But there would be no thrilling contact scenario here -- for no reason, the tall and short being made a sudden about face in near-military fashion and headed back to the landed vehicle at a much faster pace than before. The similarity to the Spanish Corell case, still two years into the future, is remarkable.

An Alien Jack and Jill

Argentina has been one of the world’s most prominent sources of UFO occupant and “high-strangeness” events since the 1950s. Some of these cases range from encounters with giant humanoids, as in the Eugenio Douglass case, to abductions by “nordic” type entities (the Dionisio Llanca case of the mid-70s). Although the 80s represented a significant lull in UFO activity, Argentina was still able to offer a few astonishing cases, such as the one involving Alberto Meyer, an unsuspecting farmer from the city of Viale. In 1986, when the incident occurred, Mr. Meyer was in his thirties and more concerned about raising a family than dealing with the unknown.

On a given day in the summer of that year, Meyer had gone out to chop firewood for the ovens of a local bakery store. As he engaged in the task, he had the distinct impression that something was watching him. Given the country’s considerable wildlife, Meyer probably suspected that a wild pig was about to charge out of the bushes. We can imagine his surprise when instead, two creatures emerged from the dense vegetation.

He waved at them, thinking they might be hunters. He couldn’t see them clearly, as the pair of new arrivals was still at a distance from him. They stared intently at him, and Meyer suddenly noticed the strange way in which they were dressed – they appeared to be wearing coveralls of some sort. Perhaps they were escapees from a local jail, or worse yet, terrorists (we forget the considerable amount of terrorist activity that engulfed South America in the late 20th century). Undeterred, and with the chainsaw as his only protection, the young man walked toward them. When he was some twenty feet distant, Meyer was suddenly seized by an unexepcted paralysis – not just of the body, but of his very will. He was motionless but curiously unafraid.

The woodcutter was now able to get a better view of the intruders, realizing that their coveralls were not the product of any penitentiary: they seemed to be made of a skin-colored plastic material. Nor were the new arrivals in any way human: they had large, bald heads with pointed ears and generally human features. They appeared to be male and female, almost identical in height.

The trace of a smile appeared on the female being’s lips, and both she and her companion pulled away at terrific speed, “gliding” over the uneven terrain as though on skates. Meyer’s paralysis ended as soon as the entities had withdrawn, and now fully mobile again, he beat a terrified retreat to his vehicle, fleeing the area. We cannot say for sure if the bakery ever received the much-needed wood for its bread ovens.

The quicksilver speed with which the non-human couple moved is reminiscent of other encounters cases, particularly the 1972 incident involving a group of nine people who decided to spend a night on Puerto Rico’s El Yunque, the mountain rainforest. The details of the incident have been described elsewhere, but the point that concerns us here is that the campers were surrounded by “beings” that moved with uncanny agility through the densely forested area, leaving deep impressions on the ground. The figures “glided” through the rainforest, zigzagging as they did so. Witnesses Efrain Arroyo and Heriberto Ramos – the leaders of the overnight visit – described the creatures as standing between five and six feet tall with elongated arms, large eyes and pointed ears. At one point during their encounter, the witnesses came within 20 feet of the entities, feeling themselves engulfed by a sense of tranquility and well-being they had never felt before – the same “sensation” brought to bear by the creatures encountered by Alberto Meyer?

The Argentinean Giant

In January 2002, Argentinean researcher Pablo Omastott brought the following case to the attention of Quique Mario, director of that country's Proyecto Condor UFO research group. The event, a CE-III involving a motorcyclist and a giant entity, had appeared in the January 15 issue of the Córdoba newspaper.

Enrique Moreno, 19, a clerical employee with the Ika-Renault corporation whose nocturnal job involves acting as a courier for business documents from one company office to another. Arriving at one of Ika-Renault's offices in the dark of the night to lay some paperwork in the middle of a table, he realized that the facility's lights flickered on and off inexplicably. Moreno paid no mind to the power fluctuation and hopped on his motorcycle, heading for his next destination.

Upon reaching a site where vehicles were parked before being sent out across the Andes to Chile, Moreno was amazed to see a giant green figure some 150 meters away. Thinking at first that it might be a welder carrying out his duties at that time of the night, the courier got on his motorcycle and drove toward the figure. When he came within thirty meters, his otherwise dependable bike backfired and hesitated, shuddering and becoming almost unmanageable. Moreno had to perform extraordinary efforts to remain in control of his two-wheeler, but he was much more distressed by the glowing figure than by his vehicle's unaccustomed reaction.

"I froze after seeing it," said Moreno. "It was like a robot standing more than two meters tall. Its angled head was hairless, it had shining, luminous eyes, and was dressed like a frogman, wearing a belt with a wide oval buckle around its waist."

The ungovernable motorcycle shot like an arrow out of control crossing an open gate and going straight across the road without its driver being able do a single thing about it.

"My arms still ache; it robbed me of my strength," he told the interviewer from Córdoba. "I felt as though I was in the middle of a magnetic field. It was cold that night, but the area surroinding me was very hot."

After the experience, Moreno stumbled through the factory's gates feeling a terrible buzzing in his head, as though it were about to explode. Factory personnel immediately drove him to a clinic where he was given sedatives. Although the newspaper considers that the young courier may have hallucinated the experience, it adds that there were other witnesses to the "jolly green giant" that very same evening: a nurse at the same medical facility Moreno had been driven to had administered a sedative to a woman who claimed having seen the same colossal figure levitate through the air and enter an unidentified flying object--an event which was confirmed, in turn, by residents of Villa de El Libertador, who had seen the alleged spacecraft that same evening.

As if these corroborating accounts were not enough, there is also the case involving trucker Luftolde Rodríguez, 52, who was slowly turning his tractor-trailer around and was terrified to find the green giant standing in front of his rig. The giant's presence appeared to drain not only the vehicle's power source, but the trucker's wristwatch and portable radio as well.

Given his proximity to the unknown figure, Rodríguez was better able to describe it. The giant, he said, was looking at him inquisitively; it had a flattened head, was completely bald and lacked eyebrows and eyelashes. Its ears were long, and it wore a glowing light blue outfit with a broad black belt and white boots. An interesting detail is that Rodríguez reports that the giant had a ball "similar to a billiard ball" in its left hand.

The article in Córdoba offers the following conclusion: "The giant's attitude was entirely non-threatening, and could be said to be one of observation. The entity was completely made of energy, perhaps belonging to a form of life in which protoplasm no longer plays any part."

Spain: Aliens in Hot Pursuit

Andrés Gómez Serrano, a retired Spanish police officer turned UFO researcher, has been aided by his years of being in uniform in getting to the bottom of a number of UFO and paranormal mysteries that have occurred with a certain degree of frequency on his "beat" -- the Spanish cities of Algeciras and Cádiz. The result of his work has been collected in the book OVNIS: 50 Años de Investigación en el Campo de Gibraltar (Antakara, 2000).

For reasons unknown, this section of the Iberian peninsula is rife with sightings involving giant entities associated with enigmatic craft, but none of them quite matches the hair-raising events of February 1980.

On the 6th of that month, following a spate of nocturnal light sightings in the vicinity of Botafuegos, three children decided to take it upon themselves to investigate the possible landing of one of the lights--described as a giant "ferris wheel" -- along the road leading from Botafuegos to the town of El Cobre. The three youngsters, like characters out of a Spielberg movie, equipped themselves with a little more than flashlights and set off on their adventure. Upon crossing a stream which had to be forded in order to reach their goal, something unusual occurred: their flashlights, powered by fresh batteries, suddenly went out. When they decided to return to their starting point, the portable light sources regained their power. Startled, the children crossed the invisible barrier several times, noticing the same inexplicable power loss on each occasion. Unable to explain the oddity, the children returned home.

The nocturnal light show continued unabated. On the night of February 11th, as the three children witnessed "their light" make what appeared to be a zigzag landing on the slopes of the nearby hills, a car driven by Rafael Tobaja and his wife pulled up to them. Tobaja asked: "Did you just see the same thing my wife and I saw back in San Jose Artesano?" When the youngsters assented, Tobaja told them to hop in the back seat, and drove them to find the strange object.

At 9:45 p.m., Tobaja and his passengers reached the gates of a farm known as "La Rejanosa". Getting out of the car to check the surroundings, the group was startled by an enormous white light that slowly rose from behind a low hill, splitting in two. From each luminous half there emerged a gigantic, man-shaped entity, with elongated legs and arms, standing in excess of nine feet tall. The radiance of their bodies made it impossible to make out their faces. The humans stared bemusedly at the luminous giants until they realized the entities were heading straight toward them.

Fear gripped Mrs. Tobaja, whose panicked screams added to the hair-scene. Clearly aware of the danger, and of his liability in having brought three unknown children into the perilous situation, Rafael Tobaja overcame his fear-induced paralysis and shouted: "Back in the car! Everybody get in the car!"

Had the unreal event been a scene from a movie screenplay, the engine in Tobaja's car would not have turned over, exacerbating panic to unspeakable heights. But the coupe started normally and the driver pulled away from the luminous giants at full speed, not stopping to look back until he had reached the neighborhood where his young passengers --badly shaken companions in adventure -- resided.

The following day, researcher Gómez visited "La Rejanosa" in the company of Manuel Aguilar, a local surveyor and engineer, to reconnoiter the premises. Both men found a profusion of triangular "boot marks" on the ground and an impression left by an object of considerable weight. Inquiries made of the military suggested that the triangular marks may have been left by mortars during live-fire exercises; however, no maneuvers had been conducted during that week in February or even earlier.

Conclusion

Writing in the mid-1970s, Otto Binder – mentioned earlier in this article – presented an interesting bit of statistical information. From over six hundred reports involving landings of unidentified flying objects, four hundred included sightings of occupants – “ufonauts” – emerging from them. Two hundred eighty of these occupant reports, Binder wrote, “involve sightings of men or creatures who are below average human height, anywhere from one to four and half feet tall. Not only do their heights vary, but so do every other facet of their bodies, faces, limbs and mannerisms.” These variations were so extensive as to preclude a possible origin from any single planet, or even some fanciful federation of planets. Binder’s catalogued variations included: “Green skin and hair; shining yellow eyes, black face and glowing green torso; fish-scale skin, legs with golden glow; three-fingered hands, eight-fingered hands; heads like potatoes....” and so forth. Even the creatures portrayed in the legendary Mos Eisley cantina scene in Star Wars had more points in common. As time progressed, reports of outlandish creatures were substituted in frequency by sightings of “nordics”, “reptilians” and the ubiquitous “greys” with their corresponding motivations and designs upon humanity.

It is difficult to bring a subject of such vast a scope to a neat conclusion. We speak patronizingly of the ancients, but perhaps they were on to something. The other beings that came into contact with humans were not from stars pegged in the firmament but from our own world, in ways that we still cannot explain with all the verbiage of science and technology. An uncomfortable kinship existed between human and parahuman – created by the same deity(ies) but each assigned to a different niche in creation. Ancient humans saw in these fellow denizens more perfected versions of themselves to be revered, or less perfected ones to be avoided. They gave them unusual names and assigned them to various regions of our world; we include them in “classifications” and imagine them to be from exotic planets.

Perhaps for all of our technical prowess, we have fallen short of our forebears in matters of intuition – the old storyteller still spins his yarns, and walks away with a pocketful of coins.