Spain: UFO Sightings in Seville (1999)

Spain: UFO Sightings in Seville (1999)
By José Manuel García Bautista

The following is a list of UFO sightings in the province of Seville (southern Spain) and outlying districts during the month of September 1999. Fraudulent, erroneous, confusing or rationally explainable sightings have been removed from this list. It is this researcher’s intention to report on the following.

First Sighting:
Day: September 4, 1999 (Saturday)
Location: Cornisa del Aljarafe, locality of Puebla del Rio, 25 km. from Seville
Time: 21: 45 hrs. (approximately)
Witnesses: Juan Alcalde Moreno and Soledad Sánchez
Weather: Clear, good conditions. Pleasant temperature
The Sighting: Two residents of Puebla del Rio, province of Seville, were able to see a very bright light from their vehicle that moved in the sky in an northward direction (Gerena-Aznalcollar, El Ronquillo area, etc.). The light followed an anomalous trajectory. According to witnesses, “it took little skips” and maintained a constant greenish color. The object issued a bright light that contrasted with the Sevillian afternoon. It followed its course unswervingly, with the exception of the small “skips”. The sighting lasted approximately 30 seconds, at which time the luminous dot ceased shining and vanished. The possibility of a weather balloon was discarded.

Second Sighting
Date: September 8, 1999 (Wednesday)
Place: Mountains to the north of Seville, locality of Alanís (115 Km. from Seville)
Time: 23:20 hrs. (approximately)
Witness: Antonio Vargas
Weather: Mutable. Rather cool and somewhat cloudy.
The sighting: Mr. Antonio Vargas was heading back to Alanís along the road from a small farm on which he keeps animals and had gone to “take them out for some air”, that is to say, to care for them, and all went well. As he took one of the many curves along the road, our witness was able to see how luminous spots emerged on a nearby hill: three powerful lights of an orange hue that would have formed a triangular shape, had they been linked together. The artifact appeared to take off slowly and silently from the ground, rising above it and heading skyward at an impressive speed. After reconnoitering the land in person, and having benefited from a visit to the locality of Constantina (near Alanis) I must remark that there are no marks to be found on t the ground (although the rain may have played a role in this) and I completely dismiss the possibility of air traffic over the area.

Third Sighting
Date: September 9, 1999 (Wednesday)
Location: Retortillo Reservoir in the mountains north of Seville, near the locality of Las Navas de la Concepción (some 100 km. from Seville)
Witnesses: María José Rodríguez, Francisco Ortega, María del Robledo García.
Time: 17:55 hours (approximately)
Weather: Cloudy and cold
The Sighting: Three witnesses were able to see a strange cloudy formation of the so-called “lenticular clouds” – disk-shaped and of considerable size, between 400 and 600 meters, according to the witnesses’ calculations. The strange cloud formation was very luminous and moved somewhat erratically, although the direction of the wind in the upper layers of our atmosphere does not necessarily agree with that of the lower levels. I think this has a natural explanation and falls under an atmospheric phenomenon.

Fourth Sighting
Date: September 15, 1999 (Wednesday)
Location: Route C-432 on the expressway between Seville and Cádiz and the locality of Lebrija in Seville province.
Witnesses: Rosa Montero and Pilar Castillo
Time: 15:30 hours (approx.)
Weather: Good. Agreeable temperatures and good visibility.
The Sighting: Our two witnesses from Seville were able to see an elongated, “sausage” or “cigar-shaped” object suspended in the sky over a golden field near the locality of Lebrija. The object did not appear to move and if it had any movement at all, it was imperceptible. Our witnesses placed its length at 100 meters. They lost the object from sight after continuing on their way; the object did not move or change its position at all. There is the curious note that there are numerous sightings of this sort along the entire length of this road, covering the communities of Lebrija-Trebuena-Sanlucar de Barrameda-Chipiona-Rota (the last four belonging to Cádiz)

Fifth Sighting
Date: September 18, 1999 (Saturday)
Location: Aznalcóllar – El Castillo de las Guardas, Seville (some 40 km. distant)
Witnesses: Francisco López and Agustín Baena
Time: 22:00 hrs. (approx.)
Weather: Poor. Strong winds and rain. Unpleasant temperature.
The sighting: The two witnesses were returning to Seville from Sierra de Huelva when they noticed a highly luminous and strange shape in the sky. It emitted lights that alternated between green, light blue and orange-yellow. It followed an irregular trajectory, as it made curious angles between 75 and 90 degrees, much to the amazement of the witnesses, who at first attributed it to the bad weather and atmospheric instability. The object appeared to head eastward (that is to say, from Huelva to Guardas). It was swift, as it took some 40 seconds to cross the witnesses’ line of sight, taking its brightness into consideration as a reference to its distance. The road was empty due to the inclement weather. The phenomenon could have been attributed to a heavenly phenomenon or perceptive error on the part of the witnesses, particularly due to poor visibility, but the area’s reputation as a UFO haven leads us to think that there could have been something more to it, since there are many such reports in the area, and many witnesses claim having seen these strange objects – among them renowned ufologists such as Joaquín Mateos and Ignacio Darnaude.

(Translation (c) 2011, S. Corrales, Institute of Hispanic Ufology (IHU)