Argentina: Round Two - More Anthropomorphic Phenomena (1972)

Source: Planeta UFO and Revista "Ovnis, un desafío a la ciencia", N° 2, jul.-ago. 1974, Ed. CADIU, Córdoba, Argentina.

Round Two – More Anthropomorphic Phenomena in Argentina
Dr. Oscar A. Galíndez

The Second Anthropomorphic Phenomenon

The second episode of this series of anthropomorphic phenomena of unknown origin was confirmed six days after the Merlo Incident, which – we must insist – was not made known until after this other incident was disclosed. In our opinion, the experiences of the 2nd episode’s protagonist (Mr. Enrique Moreno) are perhaps the most important of all, as they present significant characteristics that place it in the lead of the manifestations of unidentified anthropomorphic phenomena in Argentinean case histories.

2. Eyewitness’s Particulars

Mr. Enrique Moreno, 19, is a 2nd year vo-tech student and is also in the Sub-Officer School in Cordoba. He is a management employee at Ika-Renault’s Santa Isabel Plant. He works until 11:30 p.m at the Teletype Office and distributes internal company documentation on a scooter that allows him to cover the distances of the industrial park. At the company’s request, he carries a logbook in which he notes the fulfillment of each delivery made. He is short, thin and introverted. When we interviewed him for the first time on 14 October 1972, he was still shocked by the events he’d experienced.

3. Conditions of the Sighting.

In the evening of 27 September 1972, young Moreno departed the Guard Office around 10:30 pm and delivered some pertinent documents at the Engineering Office. Accustomed to the routine, he did not activate the light switch and deposited the forms in question on a table in the dark. Suddenly, both rows of fluorescent bulbs in the room lit up in parallel within the main office. This occurred three times, without the tubes having blinked at all. When the lights went off for the final time (the entire process lasted barely 15 seconds) he heard a noise similar to that of a turbine. Aside from the unexplained activation of the lights, he was startled by the buzzing, especially as there were no machines in operation in that part of the plant. And even if there had been one, he claims that there isn’t a technical device in the plant that can duplicate the characteristics of the sound heard.

He felt a measure of fear. He got on his scooter again and headed toward the warehouse area, crossing an internal street approximately 200 meters long. Having fulfilled the required task in this sector, he left at 11:13 p.m., retracing the route that took him to the Guard Office again. He glanced to the right, and to his surprise, he could see in the distance – nearly beyond the plant’s suburbs – that a sort of rainbow had formed very near the ground.

He paid no mind to the fact and pointed his scooter toward the destination in question, retracing his path. It was then that he saw – about 100 meters away, on the right side of the street and some 10 meters from the curb – a blue-green figure that moved ponderously, giving the impression that it was about to cross his path. (On the right side, the terrain is completely clear, although it has an elevation of 0.50 meters with regard to the street. Along said street, and for a length of 100 meters, were auto bodies that were about to be exported to Chile).

Mr. Moreno thought that it might be an operator (wearing green coveralls) and also speculated that the glow he could see was caused by the mercury vapor lamps in the vicinity. But the uncanny height of the person was startling, to the extent that he thought that someone was playing a trick on him by walking on stilts.

About some 30 meters away, the figure swung its torso toward him, dragging its head and arms in the movement as though these were inanimate limbs, firmly stuck to its body. At the same time, the scooter’s tailpipe backfired and the vehicle immediately shuddered. The RPMs went down and he began to lose power. He shifted into second, but the scooter advanced slowly, inexplicably stopping before the entity, which stood among the auto bodies. For that reason, [the entity] was only visible from the waist up.

4. Entity Description

Athletic build, height in excess of 2 meters (we determined between 2.30 and 2.40 meters). Angled features, chiseled flat, white or light green. Eyewitness is not certain whether this last detail was real or due to the reflected clothing. Hairless, ears stretching beyond the skull, bright round eyes resembling two bulbs of yellow light. No eyelids, eyelashes or eyebrows. Mouth resembled a straight thin line, with a perfect pyramidal nose, no fleshiness, as though sculpted. Gave the impression of being a mechanical rather than a living creature.



Clothing consisted in a greenish-blue coverall, plastic-looking and luminescent. Broad silvery belt with a large oval buckle of the same color. There was a small protuberance on the right side of the belt, resembling a cartridge case. The auto bodies kept him from making out the lower extremities (Photos reproduce the entities front and profile, according to a bust modeled by the author’s sibling, Luis E. Galíndez)

5. Effects Surrounding the Sighting

a) As from a distance of 30 meters, and in the measure that the scooter approached the entity’s location, Mr. Moreno began to experience an unbearable buzzing in his ears, to the point that they felt clogged or plugged (an effect that persisted after the moved away from the area where the phenomenon occurred);
b) At the same time that the previous effect occurred, he felt a strange tingling sensation al over his body, which also persisted until he moved away from the area where the anthropomorphic manifestation occurred;
c) His upper limbs experienced spastic paralysis, characterized by their immobility (except for his head) as though he’d lost his customary vitality. In spite of this, he had no problem in maintaining the vehicle’s position;
d) The area of the event was very warm, despite the fact that it was a cool night;
e) A smell of burning oil permeated the air;
f) He subsequently felt dryness in his mouth and a sensation of nausea that persisted for 24 hours;
g) Pain at the nape of the neck, arms and sides. These effects persisted at the time of our initial interview;
h) Burning eyes, followed by intermittent tearing (lasted for 3 days).

6. Events Following the Sighting

a) Mr. Moreno feels that he was no more than 30 seconds in front of the entity, not noticing any movement during the encounter (except for the 45 degree turn noted earlier). Suddenly, the scooter shot off to the left, with Moreno being unable to control it, and propelled as if by an unknown force. The vehicle had no sooner overcome that burst of acceleration when the engine began functioning normally again. In spite of this, Mr. Moreno states that he was not entirely able to control the vehicle, due to the sighting’s after effects. He does not recall having activated the controls to manage it, and thinks that he either instinctively steered the scooter, or rather it made the four turns on the inner street of the hangar under the guidance of an unknown force. The speed limit (posted) is 5 km/hour. However, he added that the vehicle moved at some 50 km/hour to the end that it almost tipped over after making the last curve. Upon reaching the Guard Office, he very nearly rammed the safety barriers, which earned him a verbal reprimand from one of the guards. As he arrived, he heard the quitting time siren, which goes off at exactly 11:30 p.m.. His wristwatch, on the other hand, indicated 11:13 pm and had stopped. Mr. Moreno’s bewilderment increased when the attested at the guard shack that it was 11:30 pm indeed. He could not explain how he had been facing the phenomenon for 17 minutes, as he is entirely certain that he did not lose consciousness at any time.

In reconstructing the events, we determined that if Mr. Moreno really departed from the warehouse area at 11:13 p.m., the trip from that site to the guard shack – including his stay with the entity for 30 seconds – would not have taken more than 3 minutes. It should be said that his time of arrival at the guard shack should have been 11:16 p.m. A major question was raised on this detail about a possible 17-minute amnesic state, probably recoverable through hypnotic regression.

b) Security guards – apprised of the incident – reported to the site where the entity was seen, but found no traces of it. Neither did they detect the odor reported by Moreno nor the existence of any warmth whatsoever. However, behind the auto bodies, and nearly corresponding with the place the phenomenon would have occupied, they found two rectangular prints measuring some 0.20 x 0.40 m. The soil was hot at that location; prints suggested a 2 centimeter depression with regard to the soil, which is rather consistent by being mixed with oil. Small luminescent particles resembling mica were found within. The security guards called to attest to the event, refused to give the event any importance, chastising Moreno for “seeing things”, brushing over the perimeter with a foot, saying that it is common to find such particles of mica on the ground.
c) Mr. Moreno became the target of jokes by those who were with him during the situation, calling his experience into question. He began to feel pain in the nape of the neck, arms and sides. There was throbbing at his temples. He was driven to the company’s internal clinic, where his blood pressure had dropped to 7. He lost consciousness at that point. When he came to, partly recovered thanks to a sedative injection, he was driven home in an ambulance. In a semi-conscious state, a suggestive repetition of words and numbers that he could not precisely recall went through his mind. He did not forget such terms as “coordinates”, “latitude” and “longitude”, “18”. He does not know if these were after effects of the experience.
d) On the outskirts of the city of Cordoba, Mr. Moreno asked the ambulance drivers to take him to his girlfriend’s house. The protagonist himself did not hesitate to express his own surprise at this behavior.
e) Ms. Elba del Valle Cruz, 18, confirmed that around 00:30 a.m. young Moreno reached her private home, constantly repeating that he’d seen a mechanical entity, like a robot, at Ika-Renault. She noticed he was very nervous and pale, becoming frightened upon seeing him so. He ask her permission to sit down in an armchair, and she acceded. Moreno promptly fell asleep, trembling and shaking, as if gripped by convulsions. Concerned, she woke him up. Mr. Moreno drank a glass of water, apologized and took his leave of his girlfriend.
f) On the next day (28 September) and fully restored to his nocturnal duties at the plant, he had a similar experience that he recounts thus: “At 10:30 pm, after engaging in some tasks in an office adjacent to the teletype area, he headed to the latter section to gather some work implements. As he did so, he felt that someone was looking at him. He glanced to a window facing an empty section and saw that the same entity from the previous night now faced him, three meters away. Simultaneously, the fluorescent bulbs turned on and off in a manner analogous to what occurred in the Engineering Room. A slight turbine-like buzzing filled the air. The teletype machines came alive. Gripped by fear, Moreno ran toward the guard shack, trying to jump over the safety barriers, demanding that someone come with him to certify the intruder’s presence. One of the guards grabbed him by the arm, sternly admonishing him to restrain himself, saying that his obsession to prove his alleged experience was causing him to see things that would eventually drive him mad. The guard invited him in for coffee with the other guards, who told him they would not disclose this other alleged incident to the upper management, as it would call his mental health into question (an internal report had already been filed with regard to the previous night’s observation);
g) On 16 October 1972, the renowned psychometrist Enrique Marchesini (unquestionably one of Argentina’s greatest paragnosts) only needed to touch his fingertips against an item of Mr. Moreno’s clothing to say that the patient suffered from nervous shock as a consequence of a unique experience (he did not provide details) that had left him profoundly shaken. He recommended a lot of rest and calm, adding that the affected party was “sincere in his manifestations.” No further details were offered. It should be noted that Mr. Marchesini was not consciously given any details about the reason for consulting him.
h) An analysis of Mr. Moreno’s wristwatch (“Orient” make) determined that it was highly magnetized. The technician in charge of demagnetizing it – unaware of the cause – expressed regret that such a valuable watch had been subject to uncontrolled experimentation by a thrill seeker.

7) Comparative Analysis

a) Villa Santina Case: Mr. Moreno found no similarities (Recall that Mr. Merlo found a similarity in the lips);
b) Hopkinsville Incident: Found that the ears were somewhat similar, especially in size. The rest of the entity bears no relation to the Santa Isabel phenomenon;
c) Easter Island Moais: Witness found a surprising correspondence between the Santa Isabel manifestations and photos of the “moais” from Easter Island.

8) Considerations About the Moreno Incident

a) With regard to the EM effect experienced by the scooter driven by Mr. Moreno, it should be noted that the University of Colorado – when providing an explanation for the phenomenon – dismissed the possibility that UFOs could ionize the air in any way whatsoever, to the extent that the internal combustion of a vehicle could be impeded. “This is deemed improbable,” said Roy Craig in the report, “because no reports of concomitant physiological or physical effects caused by such ionization are reported.” The effects produced upon Mr. Moreno call into question the verdict issued by the U. of Colorado, and open an interesting possibility about the interpretation of the EM effect as the consequence of the ionization of the area where the phenomenon occurred. But even within the hypothesis that links the manifestation of these effects with the action of magnetic fields linked to UFOs, we take into consideration two important works by Dr. Bernard E. Finch regarding psycho-physiological effects of human exposure to a force field. We believe that the effects reported by Moreno fall within one or another perspective;
b) The sudden start of the scooter as a crossed the accessways to the hangar, with the consequent normalization of the engine, suggests the possibility that the elements of same (concrete, zinc plates) served as insulation for the force field created by the phenomenon.
c) Activation and deactivation of the fluorescent lights in the Engineering and Teletype Rooms – simultaneously, without intermittence or ordinary electrical contact – lead us to think of the existence of a high dose of environmental electricity in the area where the phenomena occurred.

Author's Sources:
"Scientific Study of UFOs", Bantam Books, New York .1969, p. 101.
Finch B.E. "Beware the Saucers", FSR, Jan-Feb 1966, p. 4. "Comment on the Valensole affair", idem, p. 14

(Translation (c) 2011, Scott Corrales, IHU, with thanks to Guillermo Gimenez)