Monday, December 30, 2013

Best Wishes for the Coming Year!

Thanks to all our readers for supporting INEXPLICATA in 2013! We look forward to seeing you again in '14 with new and enlightening information.

Monday, December 23, 2013

Cyclops: One-Eyed Aliens in Laguna Blanca, Argentina (1969)

Date: 22 December 2013
Source: Planeta UFO, Visión Ovni and ORBITA CERO


Cyclops: One-Eyed Aliens In Laguna Blanca, Argentina (1969)
By Dr. Roberto Banchs


On Thursday, October 9, 1969, the area of Laguna Blanca to the east of the Province of Chaco (Argentina) was the stage for a unique incident, witnessed by a former police officer and farmer. Broadly disseminated through the Saporiti news agency (1), the item notes that a strange machine was seen resting on a tree, crewed by three unusual creatures of short stature, long blond hair and with a single eye.



The journalistic information reads thus: “Makalle, Chaco – According to a report made to police authorities in Laguna Blanca, in this jurisdiction, and which has caused true consternation, a well-known local farmer, traveling in a pickup truck, had the chance to see three strange creatures aboard a very strange machine, resting on top of a massive tree. According to Amaro Lotcket (a misspelling of “Lockett” in the original), a former police officer and current owner of a rural estate, he managed to see the mysterious beings – who stood something like 80 centimeters tall – at a distance no greater than ten meters. Lockett declared the entities had blond hair, as long as common hippies, but the most notable detail was that they each had a single eye. The claimant also noted that the strange apparition took place around 17:30 hours last Thursday. Lockett stated he was overcome by a sense of fear, or simply cold, which forced him to stop his vehicle to see if something was wrong. The machine in which the little men traveled (as he called them) made no noise whatsoever as it rested upon the tree, but its branches started to swing, showing that it had a considerable weight. He was stunned and merely limited himself to watch the movements of the alleged space travelers within the astonishing craft, which occasionally gave off flashes of multicolored light. Lockett, a well-educated man, urged the authorities to return to the place where he had seen the small beings. It was possible to ascertain at the time that leaves of the tree where the disk-device had come to rest were visibly scorched. According to the witness, when the mysterious craft gained altitude, noiselessly, losing itself in infinity, he felt “his soul returning to his body”; only able to set the pickup truck in motion after it had inexplicably shut down. He left the area in a hurry. His family urged him to file a report on the strange episode he’d experienced.”

Investigating the Case

Our first investigations into this peculiar report began in June 1986 through consultations with some relatives in Villa Angela and Barranqueras, Chaco. So it was that Gilberto Lockett, the witness’s nephew, told us that his Uncle Amaro had passed away a few years before, but tells us that the episode was discussed in the family and originally published in a newspaper in Resistencia. He told us in turn that the unusual event took place in the region of Makalle and Laguna Blanca (localities very close to each other, to the northwest of Resistencia) and that there had been two other witnesses with Amaro Lockett – a police agent and a farmhand. Unable to remember other details, he urged us to speak with other close relatives. In a conversation with Peti, [Amaro’s] wife, she told us that her husband died in 1971, that is, two years after the encounter. Rather warily, she discussed the incident in these terms: “We gave it no importance. These are things that happen and are not remembered, because one feels they have no significance. None of the other witnesses are alive.”



Mita, her daughter, spoke in similar terms, remembering that her father had once seen a UFO emerging from Laguna Blanca, giving the impression of pursuing the pickup truck, which ultimately came to a halt. However, she belittled the story about the object landing on a tree and strange creatures being present.

These reports lead us to suppose that Amaro Lockett indeed saw something. The existence of cyclopean creatures (which even resulted in a typological variant of ET classifications by Brazilian researcher Jader U. Pereira) (2) appears to be unreal, and a product of fantasy.

Our findings did not end with that occasion. In July 1993, Ing. Sigurdo Von Wurmb, a UFO researcher from Rosario and with many years of experience in the field, wrote us the following: “…you can erase the Laguna Blanca case, because I spoke personally with Lockett at the time, and he explained it to me. It was a prank by some friends, who conveyed the story to the press, which published it without any prior investigation and without speaking with Lockett himself.”

Reflections

Having ascertained the alleged falsity of the case as described in the journalistic chronicle, ascribing to former sheriff Amaro Teodomiro Lockett the perception of an anomalous phenomenon, it will be helpful to note some likely influences that shaped the fantastic story.

Around that time, there was intense space exploration activity, highlighting the first human lunar exploration by Apollo 11 in mid-July of that year. This mission – like all missions of that series – carried three astronauts, as did the strange vessel of Laguna Blanca.

These three creatures – or little men – had a peculiar aspect. Their small, dwarflike stature can be perceived as a physiological defect (dwarfism) that infers undeveloped potential. Endowed with a single eye, this detail evidently refers to the Cyclops, savage mythical creatures, the antithesis of the brilliant Homeric culture. According to tradition, these supernatural creatures were foreign to any concept of justice and society. Hesiod says that the Cyclops form a triad, each of them having a meaningful name. Fables tell of how these three Cyclops were cast from heaven by Uranus.
The “long blond hair, as long as common hippies”, is a detail corresponding to that time, a sign of liberty and rebellion. That year, in an oral proceeding, hippies were judged by Argentinean society as “parasitic units, with pernicious individualistic tendencies” and “elements that dissolved the social fabric”. Their long hair was seen as an extravagance for those “wished to see something different” and “acquire popularity”. (3) Two months prior to the case, the happy days of Woodstock and the multiple homicides at Sharon Tate’s mansion (4) ratified societal condemnation of that generation.

Sources

(1) La Razón, Buenos Aires, and La Voz del Interior, Córdoba, 13 octubre 1969; et. al.
(2) Pereira, Jader U. Les Extraterrestres, 2e. numéro spécial de la revue Phénomènes Spatiaux, GEPA, Paris, FR., 4e. trimestre 1974, pp. 24/25 y 51 (cas 231, T. l1, V. 2).
(3) La Razón, Buenos Aires, 27 mayo 1969, p. 6.
(4) Clarín, Buenos Aires, 15 octubre 1993, supl., p. 3; and El Andino, Mendoza, 10 agosto 1969, p. 6 & 9

http://orbitaceromendoza.blogspot.com.ar/2013/12/laguna-blanca-chaco-criaturas-de-un.html

[Translation © 2013, Scott Corrales, IHU, with thanks to Guillermo Giménez and Luis Emilio Annino]

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Luis Burgos: Observations on the Necochea Beach Humanoid

The Necochea Beach Humanoid
By Luis Burgos (FAO/RADIO)

The photograph taken by chance on a beach in Necochea on 17 November 2013 was NOT JUST ONE MORE CASE [original emphasis—SC]. It has only been possible to capture humanoid figures “invisible” to the human eye on very few occasions, when compared with the infamous “phantom” UFOs, and the controversy these cases generate when they take place. Naysayers will subtly state that “it was a person photographed against the Sun, very near and from below, and this causes the deformation of the image, causing the creation of the ghostly image.” Obviously this situation CAN BE REPRODUCED [original emphasis-SC] a thousand and one times, but this does not imply that THE CASE CAN BE NULLIFIED. In current ufology, many incidents can be readily reproduced in photos or videos, and this in no way causes the case to fall apart.

What UFO naysayers never take into consideration are the WITNESSES, the backbone of if all. Without eyewitness accounts there are no case histories, and without case histories there are no investigations. It’s that simple. Then they resort to the path of least resistance: smearing the protagonist of the events, delving into his/her past (the shadier the better), finding out if he/she had a few glasses of wine beforehand (it would seem that drunks are forbidden to see UFOs), find out if he ever took a neighbor for a lover or if a chicken went missing in the neighborhood, associating it with the witness’s larder around that time. In short, all is fair for these gentlemen to garb themselves in pseudo-scientific raiment and deride everything that makes up ufology: photos, videos, abductions, humanoid sightings, ground marks, etc. Unfortunately, this is done with the approval of many sycophantic researchers, in other words, “the usual toadies.”

Going back to the episode in question, we have a positively rich case history of BEINGS EMERGING FROM THE WATER, that is to say, amphibian entities that have been seen to enter or leave rivers or seas WITH or WITHOUT unidentified flying object: a strange figure in excess of 2 meters tall taken in Laguna del Monte, Province of Buenos Aires (2010); a tall entity photographed by a policeman in Taiwan (2012), an unusual character entering the water and going back in the El Cerro beach facility of Montevideo, Uruguay (mid ‘80s); two humanoids seen by Leo Fuster and his friend on Mar del Plata’s La Serena beach in the ‘80s, the same ones who appeared in the spectacular Estancia La Dulce case (Necochea, 1978); the unusual luminous figure that emerged from the waters of Punta Indio, prompting a couple to flee (‘90s), etc.

It is for this reason that researchers always rely on the RELIABILITY of witnesses. If the witness displays probity, he/she is clearly worthy of trust in the account, and we therefore confirm the case. On the other hand, if doubts are on the increase during the investigation, the incident begins to unravel and quickly becomes QUESTIONABLE or NEGATIVE. In this case, if the Necochean figure on the beach is simply a person photographed with the subsequent effect of the Sun in the background, we would be facing not a CONFUSION but an outright FRAUD. But if the protagonist displays a high degree of trust and the researchers are able to confirm it, we have no reason to question the event. This is the conclusion yielded by the HUMANOID OF NECOCHEA BEACH.

[Note: all emphasis is in Mr. Burgos’s original]

[Translation © 2013, S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Guillermo Giménez, Planeta UFO]

Argentina: The Necochea Beach Humanoid Photo Analyzed

Argentina: The Necochea Beach Humanoid Photo Analyzed
By Guillermo D. Giménez – Planeta UFO

Necochea is a city located on the Atlantic Coast of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the county seat and has a major port facility, as it is located at the mouth of the Quequén Grande River and the Argentinean Sea. The city is a chosen destination for thousands of tourist who spend their vacation time in the widest beaches of Argentina. Necochea is considered one of the finest beaches in the country.


The Miguel Lillo Park, with over 640 acres of pines and eucalyptus trees, can be found along the coastline, representing the city’s “lung”, surrounded by médanos (of various types). Further south we find coastal caves produced by sea erosion as well as various cliffs. Added to this, the Quequén River separates the cities of Necochea and Quequén, providing several options to enjoy the various alternatives the city has to offer its visitors and residents alike (water sports, mangrove tours, 4x4 off-roading, etc.)

The Photograph

During the week of November 18, 2013 I received a phone call from a co-worker who sent a strange image taken by her son Alejandro on Sunday, 17 November, a day when temperatures were in excess of 31 degrees centigrade. She added no further details, only asked me to take a look at it and to give her my opinion.

I opened the file and saw two beautiful images of the sunset along the Necochean coastline. But the 2nd photograph showed a strange humanoid figure, very tall, that wasn’t noticed by anyone.
The UFO case histories of the Necochea region are abundant. I have personally investigated many cases over the past 30 years, finding true incidents involving UFO encounters (with witnesses of various social backgrounds and educational levels), cases with photo and film evidence, cases of strange imprints throughout various parts of the city (park, countryside, rural areas), and cases involving UFO occupant encounters (park, beach, etc.). All of these occurred at various points of the city of Necochea (beach, park, river, downtown, countryside, etc.).





The photo in question was taken by a 28 year old named Luis Alejandro Nielsen, a marketing technician with a degree from the University of Belgrano. He is currently employed in the operations division of a major shipping agency. He lives in Necochea with his family.

Alejandro told me: “Guillermo, those photos were taken with an Xperia LC2104 cell phone. Let me tell you that the first photo I took was DSC 0081.jpg (Sunday, November 17, 2013, 7:44:50 PM), a normal photo of the sunset after a spectacular day at the beach. The second photo was DSC 0082.jpg (Sunday, November 17, 2013, 7:45:50 PM)….The photos WERE NOT taken with a zoom function or anything. The resolution is 5 mpx and the aspect ratio is 16:9 (wide, to be seen on an LED TV set). The file size depends on the photo, and for that reason their size is 1.44 MB + or -, but this has nothing to do with the resolution.
Best regards, Luis Alejandro Nielsen”


This then is the main summarized information. The images were submitted for analysis to the Fundación Argentina de Ovnilogía (FAO) led by my friend and renowned researcher Luis Burgos.
Initial results show that it is not a fraud. A humanoid shape of large size can be seen, apparently floating over the sand and not casting a shadow.



Comparative Analysis

This case, which occurred on Sunday, 17 November 2013 on the Necochea coast has an Argentinean analog that was investigated by Luis Burgos and his team, which he called “Los Seres de la Laguna: Una fotografia unica en Argentina?” detailing the apparition on a photograph of a strange entity who was not seen by anyone either.

“According to his story, on 14 March 2010, Easter Week, Ivan D, decided to spend the holiday with his family at Laguna del Monte. Traveling there with his wife Vanina, his two young sons (ages 2 and 8 respectively) and the rest of the family group. A total of eight members. Once by the lakeside, he began taking photos with his digital camera. He took several family and landscape shots between 14 and 16 hours that afternoon.

“Hours later, Ivan.D (38 years old at the time) “….checked the material for that day on his computer, the photo taken of his 8 year old son at 15:56 hours. The boy does not appear in the photo as he quickly darted behind a tree. But he was perplexed: a strange, enigmatic SILHOUETTE, not someone with human features, “appeared” at the edge of the lagoon, at a regular distance from the family group and to the left of the photo. He immediately drew his own conclusions, certain that it wasn’t a regular person… from the multiple photos taken that afternoon, this one was the only one containing the strange figure, following a review of the material.”

[Readers of INEXPLICATA can find an interview with the protagonist at http://inexplicata.blogspot.com/2010/07/lagoon-creature-unique-argentinean.html]

The Morphology

In both cases (Necochea, 2013 and Laguna del Monte, 2010) the similarity between them is repeated. The strange humanoid figure was only seen after the images were dumped into the computer. In both cases, they are anthropomorphic and tall. Analyses showed that there was no fraud involved and that the image in each incident is real. There it is. From all the photos taken that day, this strange figure appears in only one of them.

Final Considerations

The present Necochea case and the Laguna del Monte event constitute, without a doubt, two unique and relevant cases in the Republic of Argentina. Luis Alejandro Nielsen is a young resident of Necochea who works and leads a normal life, his story is reliable, and I also know part of his family for many years. He deserves trust and total assurance in his testimony.
There is no question that the “The Humanoid of Necochea Beach, Argentina” will prompt many discussions in the UFO field, and we will pursue our investigations into the matter.

[Translation © 2013, S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Guillermo Giménez, Planeta UFO]

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Forgotten Audio Gems - Tim Binnall Interviews Scott Corrales

Forgotten audio gems: Community Video over at the Internet Archives (archives.org) has hosted an episode of Tim Binnall's "Binnall of America" in which he interviews yours truly, Scott Corrales, on the Chupacabras and sundry matters. https://archive.org/details/Season2Episode5ScottCorrales. It was a lively and informative exchange.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Argentina: More on the "Giant Humanoid" Photograph



We are still awaiting an official analysis from Luis Burgos and the FAO team on the nature of the alleged "Giant Humanoid" photograph taken on the beaches of Necochea.

In the meantime, Mundo Esotérico Paranormal (http://www.mundoesotericoparanormal.com/fotografia-muestra-humanoide-gigante-argentina/) had the following to say on its 10 December 2013 post, translated below:

Photograph Displays a Giant Humanoid
MEP - 10 December 2013

Last year, media reported on a surprising photograph that appeared to show a transparent alien creature photographed by a police officer near [China's] Jianming Lake, located at an altitude of 3,313 meters in the southern part of the central plateau at Taitung.

A photo hoax was suspected at first until experts analyzed the photo to ascertain its authenticity. Their conclusion was that no further editing was in evidence. The snapshot was taken by Chan Yung-huang, a policeman walking around Lake Jianming with his colleagues on 14 May of last year. Chen said he noticed nothing unusual as he took a photo of a mountain. Later, the photograph would clearly show a large creature of extraterrestrial origin with a transparent body and webbed hands, which constituted proof of alien visitation to ufological experts. Now a new photograph in Argentina shows an extraterrestrial human on a beach. As occured in Lake Jianming, there were also witnesses who claimed seeing nothing unusual.

The alleged entity appeared in a photograph taken during a sunset in Argentina on 19 November [2013] according to several websites devoted to the subject. In this case, the photo appears to display a humanoid form on the coastline. As can further be seen in the image, there is a vehicle parked at the edge of the water with four people enjoying the sunset. The bystanders are seemingly unaware of the strange figure.

Experts have looked into the photograph, publishing the analyzed image of the alleged alien. According to specialized media, the photos were submitted for analysis by Guillermo D. Gimenez, who did not take the photo, as its author wished to remain anonymous. The photo was examined by the renowned Fundacion Argentina de Ovnilogia (FAO) directed by Luis Burgos of La Plata, a respected ufologist with over 40 years' experience in the subject.


Other experts also analyzed the mysterious image: "If we look at the astonishing photograph, you'll notice a car parked at the water's edge with four people watching the sunsed, unaware of the alien's presence. This suggests that the entity was "cloaked" and only visible to the camera eye. I personally think it is an authentic image as it seemingly does not display any signs of being edited via Photoshop-type programs. It is also necessary to add that a more exhaustive analysis of the photo and the camera will be needed to discard any possible anomalies," explained a UFO analyis.

Skeptics have also weighed in on the matter: Juan Carlos Victorio states in his blog (misteriosdelaire.blogspot.com) that "the explanation is a very simple one, but some prefer the more fantastic and surreal hypotheses. Shortly before the photo displaying the figure was taken, another was shown. This one is not usually depicted in the articles and entries posted on the Internet on this incident - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP0zGCAI4mUQrgC5NDI7M4nMAnxTKgzt240a5p6nTJ2HXjXIKy2KAR89VzMLjKBOxzP0V-Z6rKXRJCAbsAoyD-EkmVRZq75ng9gKUBAPpZ8pSzpay0ykh-x9k3pFwSLzn5IVO2_Q/s1600/1483431_10202087611968462_1813573238_n.jpg - A simple variation in perspective (the photograph crouches to take the second photo) of a person standing between the Sun and the camera gives us a giant alien."

INEXPLICATA will continue posting opinion on this controversial image and any subsequent examinations.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Dreams: Behind the Wall of Sleep



Behind the Walls of Sleep
By Scott Corrales (c) 2013

“But the dream is your enemy…”
- Kate Bush


Research into dreams became mainstream in the 1960s thanks to the pioneering work of Dr. William Dement into the nature of sleep and dreaming. By the 1970s, even astronomer Carl Sagan was venturing into this territory in the pages of his landmark The Dragons of Eden from an anthropological and medical standpoint. “Statistical studies,” he writes, “have been made of the most common categories of dreams – studies which, at least to some extent, ought to illuminate the nature of dreams. In a survey of dreams of college students, the following were, in order, the five most frequent types: (1) Falling; (2) Being pursued or attacked; (3) Attempting repeatedly and unsuccessfully to perform a task; (4) Various academic learning experiences, and (5) Diverse sexual experiences.”

Worlds of Ether

Writing about dreams and dream research is not something I’ve done in the past, but a friend – let’s call him Phil – aware of my interest in the “far out and far away”, wanted to share a very vivid dream. During this experience he was inside his house in broad daylight in a typical American town. He stepped outside his front door and walked across his wooden front porch, down the front steps (stone in real life, wooden planks in the dream) and onto the sidewalk. The atmosphere in the dream was not oppressive, but the skies were grey and suggestive of late summer. Phil was suddenly seized by a sense of panic – looking across the street – noticed that his family’s cars were no longer parked there; even worse, a line of vintage cars from the 1970s (“something you’d see on Kojak,” he added) were visible down the block. Turning to his subjective right, following the sidewalk, there were more cars and a dilapidated piece of construction equipment (“like an old Liebherr”, drawing from his background in the construction field). But a greater shock awaited the dreamer.

The middle school across the street from his house – at least in the waking world – was not present in the dream state. Phil looked upon an endless pile of bricks and rusted cyclone fencing, suggesting the structure had been demolished in the past and the debris never removed. “At that point,” he told me, “I had this overwhelming feeling that I shouldn’t be here, and had to get back into the house for my own safety…and sanity.”

The dream began to disintegrate as water emerged from the sewer grate and flowed backward – against the slant of the street. The world was now tilting in the wrong direction, and the dreamer fought to go back up the steps to his porch – holding on to a bright metal railing that does not exist in the waking world – and lurch to grab another handhold that would enable him to enter his house. He woke up immediately after, feeling dismayed. In the few seconds after being restored to the waking state, Phil wondered if he might actually be dead. But, he added, that taste of saliva in mouth reassured him that he was still among the living.

It’s quite possible that a dream book out there may offer a prepackaged answer to this dream experience, but Phil was convinced that he, or some part of him, was in an alternate universe of some sort, one in which the school across the street had either been demolished or never built, or where “vintage” cars were still quite current, much like the superannuated American cars a tourist might see running on the streets of Havana.

What perhaps motivated me to commit my friend’s experience to written form was my own consideration that dreams allow us to peer into other dimensions – worlds of ether – that seem to have their own internal logic and laws.

It reminded me of a dream I used to have – and still have – of a city in which lived for a long time but in a different setting. These dream experiences were never blurry or whimsical. I would see myself riding a bus past buildings that did not exist in the real world, restaurants thriving with activity, police officers writing tickets and more importantly, huge structural differences to be found in this dream city that were missing from the physical one. There were many, but I will mention only one. This city was along the sea, its avenues offering a marvelous, uninterrupted view of the green water and its waves. Its “dream alternative”, for want of a handier term, offered a similar view, but the near horizon was dominated by oil platforms - at least three of them – serviced by tugboats and full of lights. Like any other dreamer, the words “it all looked so real” are the first ones to come to mind. People around me went around their business (other dreamers or citizens of this city, who knows?) as I looked upon the not-too-distant platforms, every bit as solid and majestic as the Ekofisk platform built by Phillips Petroleum in the North Sea.

Lucid Dreams or Alternate Universes?

Complex or frightening dreams are usually ascribed to heavy pre-bedtime meals or snacks or stress, but mention is seldom made of complex dreams that repeat, or to which the reader appears to be return several times a year, exploring various aspects or simply enjoying the view. We also hear of children who are able to re-enter the dream state at will to “prolong” dreams they were having (or re-enter other dimensions?) or even to find information needed for school projects. Perhaps too much attention is paid to dream interpreting than looking a bit further. Another interesting observation is that dreams of any kind already appear to be “in progress” by the time the sleeper enters the dream state – vehicles, shops, structures and activities are well underway, being run by “dream denizens” (again, we find ourselves coining new terms at every turn of the corner…)

So, what’s the takeaway from all these subjective experiences? The reader may well ask. Interest in lucid dreaming has increased among the young since the release of Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” in 2010, in which a band of professional dreamers blaze a trail through created dreamscapes. Any visitor to the r/LucidDreaming forum on Reddit.com will be surprised at the extent and quality of the discussions on the subject, particularly on methods employed to achieve the lucid state. There is even 'A Field Guide to Lucid Dreaming' by Thomas Peisel, Dylan Tuccillo and Jared Zeizel that endeavors to help its readers become “dream explorers or dream pioneers”. Add to all this a belief among some lucid dreamers that their efforts may eventually lead to etheric travel, or out of body experiences, that will enable entry to other dimensions. In step with our technology-laden times, there is even an iPhone app (http://luciddreamingapp.com/iphone/) designed to make the process easier. Earlier works of fiction, particularly Ursula K. LeGuin’s “The Lathe of Heaven” had also explored this territory from a science fiction perspective, having an idealistic but ruthless psychologist exploit a patient’s oneiric abilities to change the future.

British author Hilary Evans explored some of this territory in his book Visionaries, Apparitions and Alien Visitors (Aquarian Press, 1984). “For example,” he writes on page 39, “there are a number of people – I am one of them – whose dreams never, on any account, image the real world. Though I dream I am back at my Cambridge college, the Cambridge I dream about is never the real Cambridge; and so with any other place I dream about. Instead, my dream-producer goes to an immense amount of trouble to create a fictitious Cambridge, highly detailed, with fictitious streets and fictitious second hand bookshops stocked with fictitious books, and with fictitious rooms for me and my fictitious friends to live in…and my dreaming self finds its way round the counterfeit just as my waking self knows its way about the real Cambridge.”

At this level of speculation, might we not take an additional step and suggest that the notorious “alternate futures” posited in modern physics (a new future branching out in every decision made) are the ones we can see in dreams? It would be fascinating if some dreamers – perhaps the lucid dreamers who have mastered their oneiric experiences through a variety of techniques – were able to watch a television broadcast in one of these worlds of ether, or even pick up a newspaper and read the headlines. A perfectly valid counter-argument could be made, of course, by stating that their minds could confabulate the contents of any media they obtained.

The Coming of the Somnonauts

When the astronomer Johannes Kepler wrote one of the earliest works of science fiction we know (1608) – a voyage to the moon – he bestowed the title “Somnium” (dream) upon his work, as the only way Duracotus, his protagonist, could possibly reach Earth’s satellite was by dreaming. So it was Kepler’s fictional character became the first somnonaut.


As far back as 1867, authors such as Harvey de Saint-Denis were pondering the likelihood of controlling dreams to bring about certain outcomes. In Les rêves et les moyends de les diriger he advises Victorian-age seekers that “dreams are a reflection of actual life, and events that transpire in them generally obey – even in their lack of coherence – certain chronological laws that are coherent with the normal sequence of any real event. What I mean by this is that, for example, should I dream that I’ve broken an arm in a dream, it will seem to me that I have a cast over it, or am making careful use of it. If I dream that the doors of a room are shut, it will appear to me as though the light has been cut off and everything around me is plunged into darkness. I therefore imagined that if could make the gesture of placing a hand over my eyes in a dream, I would obtain an illusion similar to what would really happen to me if I repeated the same gesture while awake, that is to say, I could cause the images of objects before me disappear. I later wondered if after interrupting this vision, my imagination would more easily bring about the new objects upon which I set my thoughts. Experience showed that my reasoning was correct.”


Chilean filmmaker and thinker Alejandro Jodorowsky had his first lucid dream at the age of seventeen. In an interview with Gilles Farcet, he described a dream in which he sat in a movie theater “that was showing an animated movie of [Salvador] Dalí images. In a flash, he realized he was dreaming, and panicked. “I looked toward the exit,” he said, “but being merely a teenager with no spiritual or psycho-analytic awareness, I thought: If I cross that door, I’ll enter another world and perish!” He made a desperate effort to wake up, feeling himself rising from the depths into his body. “It was my first experience, and it was terrifying.” Over time he mastered this weird new gift. If he wanted to go to any exotic location, he would be able to do so. “I could change backdrops. Wanting to go to the South Pole and see thousands of penguins…gave me such joy that I would wake up!”

Jodorowsky also tried more serious experiments. “Once I wanted to find out what death was like. I hurled myself off the top of a building and smashed myself against the pavement. Immediately after, I found myself alive in another body, standing among the crowd gathering to gawk at the suicide’s corpse. That’s how I learned that the brain is oblivious of death.”
The distinguished creative spirit also kept extensive journals of his dream adventures. “I found myself in an industrial world, lacking any nature, consisting only of buildings. I was on the border without any identification papers – three soldiers kept me from crossing over, so I jumped over the barrier and was pursued by the guards. I opened a garage door and faced a well many kilometers deep. That’s when I realized I was dreaming.” Fearlessly, he leaped into the hole, finding himself in a cathedral location occupied by half human/half animal women upon whom he unleashed his passion. “When I started making love to those beast women, I was overpowered by desire, causing the lucidity to fade away and the dream to slip out of control.”



There has been an increase over the past few years of people who believe they have awakened from the dream state - lucid or otherwise - into another dimension that isn't their own (perhaps the fear evinced by "Phil" in his own dream) and are now trapped in it. A caller to the Coast To Coast AM radio show in December 2013 claimed to belong to another reality in which the U.S. government had made use of its nuclear missile submarines as spare generators, anchoring them to the California coast and supplying electricity from the subs' reactors. In 2008 we learned of the case of Lerina García, a young Spanish woman who wrote quite eloquently about her "time-slip" or awakening in a reality not her own (Change of Scenery: Other Dimensions, Other People http://inexplicata.blogspot.com/2011/04/change-of-scenery-other-dimensions.html). A Reddit user also posted the belief that he had "switched dimensions" after a dream in which he saw a tall red building that appeared to have survived an apocalypse scenario. In the waking state, he discovered that a field trip to which his son had been signed up "never took place" and that his apartment number was now "completely different". Given the complexity of the human brain - that other terra incognita - a number of neurological and cardiovascular reasons can be put forth as the practical answers to these beliefs, but they remain nonetheless intriguing.

Conclusion

Dreaming is an intrinsic part of the human condition. “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep,” wrote William Shakespeare in The Tempest. The ancients paid great attention to dreams, regarding them as messages from the gods to be interpreted by priests, or by the dreamer himself or herself by sleeping in temples, hoping for a vision of the deity and a clearer message. By the 2nd century CE, the Roman philosopher Artemidorus had already compiled the lengthy Oneirocritica, the book on dream interpretation that is the forerunner of all the paperback “dream books” we find at the local drugstore and written with the same authority we would expect to find today: "Some dreams, moreover, are theorematic (direct), while others are allegorical. Theorematic dreams are those which correspond exactly to their own dream-vision. For example, a man who was at sea dreamt that he suffered shipwreck and it actually came true in the way that it had been presented in sleep. For when sleep left him, the ship sank and was lost, and the man, along with a few others, narrowly escaped drowning...Allegorical dreams, on the other hand, are those which signify one thing by means of another; that is, through them, the soul is conveying something obscurely by physical means."


Thursday, December 12, 2013

Argentina: Unusual "Light Movement" Witnessed by Fishermen in Puerto Madryn



Source: VISION OVNI (Andrea Pérez Simondini)
http://www.visionovni.com.ar/modules/news/article.php?storyid=1208
Date: 11.13.2013


Location: Puerto Madryn, Chubut, Argentina
Date: Saturday, 2 November 2013
Time: Between 0200 and 0500 hours
Witnesses: Two (2) younger anonymous witnesses and an older one

Vicky Zeigler, a researcher with the VISION OVNI team, has been closely following the events taking place in the city of Puerto Madryn, Chubut Province, due to the characteristics of these events: Lights are seen entering and departing from the water, remaining suspended over the ocean, with no other explanation but the movements themselves. Her vigilance and searching paid off, as she was able to obtain an eyewitness account directly from the experiencers. At their own request, we are keeping their names confidential.

On Saturday, 2 November, two men (37 and 28 years old, respectively) and a 54-year-old man went fishing at the beach known as Pozo at the opening of Golfo Nuevo in the city of Puerto Madryn - Chubut. It should be noted that these beaches are known for their mussels, located some 3 kilometers away from the picturesque Punta Loma Reserve when driving from the city of Puerto Madryn.

In the early morning hours of Saturday, 2 November, between 02:00 and 05:00 hours, they witnessed the manifestation of a large red sphere. The object later changed colors to orange and while it held this tone, it issued a smaller red sphere from its interior.

The description given by the witnesses is that it resembled a star that wound up "falling into the sea". Meanwhile, the larger sphere took off vertically and at high speed. The movement it made from that point onward was up and down and from left to right, creating a zig-zag pattern or a few moments, before returning to its original position.



Says one of the witnesses: "We were very pleased about having seen something. We remained awake all night; the skies were starry and there was no moon."

While the witnesses were unable to secure photos or videos of what they saw, the movement of the lights can be perfectly recreated in these visuals.

[Translation (c) 2013, S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Guillermo Giménez, Planeta UFO]

Mexico: New Anomalous Lights Over Popocatepetl


Contributing Editor Ana Luisa Cid (Mexico) has shared some intriguing images of an anomalous light over the Popocatepetl Volcano. They were obtained by the TELEVISA monitoring camera at 05:44 hours on 5 December 2013.
To watch the video in its entirety (1:13), please visit: http://youtu.be/qYsSbdUKqc8

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Argentina: The 1973 Dionisio Llanca Abduction Revisited (2013 Interview)

Argentina: The 1973 Dionisio Llanca Abduction Revisited (2013 Interview)

We received the following note from contributing editor Guillermo Giménez this morning: “In the Sunday, 8 December 2013 issue of Bahia Blanca’s La Nueva Provincia newspaper appeared a brief but most interesting interview with the protagonist of the incident known as the “Dionisio Llanca Case” which occurred on 28 October 1973 in the vicinity of Bahia Blanca in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. A highly interesting incident with worldwide repercussions, one in which the witness claimed having been taken aboard a UFO and analyzed by various beings (two males and a female). Such was the harassment he endured at the hands of journalists and researchers from all over the world that the protagonist vanished completely. It was even said a few years ago that he had passed away. Now, a reporter from the Lanueva.com website managed to find him in a city in Southern Argentina and managed to get this interview, which should be highly significant to the Argentinean and global UFO community. These are the words of Dionisio Llanca today, over 40 years after the event."

Source: La Nueva Provincia
Date: 8 December 2013


DIONISIO LLANCA CLAIMED HAVING BEEN ABDUCTED BY A UFO
“If it happened again, I wouldn’t tell a soul.”

If what happened to me that night happened again, I wouldn’t tell a soul. It harmed be greatly. I was defamed and exploited. Over the past 40 years I was confined on account of various emotional and health problems in hospitals in Rawson, Mendoza and Buenos Aires,” says Dionisio Llanca, the man who startled the country in 1973 by stating he had been abducted by extraterrestrials.

His story, or at least the part that occurred in the early hours of 28 October of that year, when he claimed having gone into a vessel crewed by three beings from another planet, is known all over the world. There are translations of it into English, Portuguese and French, among other languages, and there are even photos showing him at the time, when he was only 25 years old.

However, most websites dealing with UFOs have an incorrect piece of information: they state that Dionisio died in 1986, when in fact the alleged abductee lives on, trying to keep anyone from learning about his past by living in a southern [Argentinean] city, working for the past 4 years as a service station attendant.

His chosen life in obscurity hampered repeated efforts by “La Nueva Provincia” in contacting him. In fact, many of his relatives didn’t know his whereabouts, or if he was indeed dead. Other relatives mentioned that following the 1973 episode, the man became a sort of nomad.

The fact is that he was barely in touch with one of his siblings over the phone. He scanned his cellphone for a call he’d received from Dionisio some months ago, and after consultations with Dionisio himself, played a role in making contact a possibility.



[Dionisio’s] boss is the only person in his current environment who knows the story, because he has kept it from his friends, co-workers and neighbors.

“Some time ago his daughter read about my case over the Internet and asked me about it. I had to tell them everything, getting them to promise that they wouldn’t tell anyone, because the truth is that I don’t like to remember,” he admits.

What Dionisio doesn’t like to remember is that while changing a flat tire on his truck around 1:30 in the morning that Saturday, on the shoulders of Kilometer 705 of Route 3, two men and a woman, dressed in tight-fitting grey outfits and yellow boots and gloves, appeared out of nowhere beside him.

Their craft was suspended some 7 meters in the air, over some trees that have also survived the test of time. He described it as measuring some 4 meters in diameter, and as silent as the night in the countryside. Before this, he had only noticed a yellow light approaching along the highway.

According to his story, he was paralyzed at that moment, although not by fear – an unknown force kept him from moving at all. He was able to hear the beings talking among themselves in an unfamiliar language until one of them lifted him by the neck while the other pinched his one of his fingers. The last thing he saw was two drops of blood sliding from his index finger to the ground, and the woman’s fixed gaze. He later became unconscious.

When he woke up shortly after 03:00, he was in the premises of the Sociedad Rural, lying beside some railcars, 10 kilometers away from where his truck was parked. The vehicle was collected by police officers a few hours later.

Dionisio says he got up as best he could and walked along the road, unable to remember his name or the reason that had taken him to that place, until he obtained help from a man – whose identity remains unknown – who led him to the police station.

When he was about to testify, he was barely able to speak. It was perhaps for this reason that the policeman on duty thought he was drunk, and to avoid wasting time in transacting his arrest, set him free instead.

The man who helped him put him back in his car and drove him to the Municipal Hospital. 24 hours went by before he was able to retell the events. The case became widely known thanks to journalists from two Buenos Aires newspapers who were correspondents in our city at the time.

But the story did not end there. As the strange event circulated through the country’s printed media, renowned researcher Fabio Zerpa arrived on the scene, along with reporters from such magazines as “Gente” and correspondents from ufological publications seeking to interview the abductee.

“In 1976, tired of being injected with sodium pentothal – the so-called truth serum – and the problems that remembering the event was causing me, I decided not to appear again,” he says.
His rush to obscurity took him places he never imagined. During the next stage, he spent two and a half years interned in hospitals in Mendoza, Buenos Aires and Rawson. “I was shedding skin all over my body, and my eyes became so red at times I thought I might be going blind. The doctors told me I showed signs of radiation exposure, although worst of all is that I would see the light from the UFO every so often,” he says.

Even today, whenever he washes his hands, he notes that a small puncture they made when they injected him for a second time is still visible. This happened on the craft, while a sort of loudspeaker spoke to him in Spanish, assuring him that no harm would befall him.

He also claims to have a mark on his left eyelid, which becomes more visible when he washes his face and sees himself in the mirror. This was done with a glove that had something like thumb tacks on its surface. “These are details I remembered through hypnotic regression sessions to which I was subjected shortly after the event,” he adds. These sessions were conducted by doctors and psychologists of our own city, and with the participation of Fabio Zerpa.

During these sessions, Llanca said he ascended into the craft on a beam of light. [The object] had only one window, many levers, several monitors and a radio, which aside from speaking in our language, repeated that they were friendly to humans and had come from a secret location. Before releasing him, they promised that they would find him again someday.

He also described a detail that was employed to lend credibility to Zerpa’s research. While he was aboard the UFO, two hoses were deployed from the object: one of them made contact with a puddle and the other with a high-voltage line. Coincidentally or not, the city experienced a major power loss that was felt in various neighborhoods.

Other researchers insisted that the power loss indeed occurred, but was due to a transformer malfunction in [the community of] Ingeniero White. Furthermore, they dismissed the case as one of the greatest hoaxes in history, described Llanca as an unreliable witness, and mentioned that other footprints were found next to the truck. Their conclusion: the man was lying.

“Many things happened over all these years. If I told you about them I’d never end. The fact is that I still find that event disconcerting. In fact, what happened to me during the 25-minute period I remained aboard the craft remains pending, but I was unwilling to participate in any further experiments,” he remarks.

“Well, buddy…” he says, giving to understand that he does not wish to keep talking. Before hanging up, he repeated that in spite of having turned 65 years old, he has still found no meaning or reason for what happened to him, and that it keeps him awake at night.

[Translation © 2013 S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Guillermo Gimenez, Planeta UFO]

Monday, December 09, 2013

Venezuela: A Classic CE3K Revisited - The 1954 José Ponce / Gustavo González Incident



Venezuela: A Classic CE3K Revisited - The 1954 José Ponce / Gustavo González Incident
By Carlos Sainz
www.alternativaovni.blogspot.com.ar

Summary: You may have heard about the Antonio Villas Boas abduction case in 1957 (Brazil) and about the Betty and Barney Hill abduction case in 1961 (USA), but have you ever heard about an attempted abduction that took case long before these two cases, in 1954? This incident involved two men who successfully avoided abduction by fighting against extraterrestrials. What makes it an extraordinary event is that an extraterrestrial was very nearly kidnapped by a human, who tried to apprehend him and put him into a van. This strange incident took place in Petare, Venezuela.
On 29 November 1954, between 2:00 and 2:30 in the morning, Gustavo González, a 25-year-old Cuban businessman living in Venezuela, and his Venezuelan assistant, José Ponce, were aboard Gustavo’s van, on their way to the “Industria Nacional de Embutidos C.A.” or “Schelper” meat processing plant, located on Buena Vista street in Petare, in order to obtain products to sell in the market at daybreak.


Driving along Buena Vista Street, they were surprised to see the street illuminated as though it were 12 noon. Upon exiting the van to see what was afoot, José suddenly ran back toward the vehicle after seeing a strange entity approaching them.

Seconds later, Gustavo also saw the creature and was at first hesitant, but then advanced toward it and wrapped his arms around the being to capture it and drag it back to the van. The small alien, however, was rather strong and managed to break away from the hold. Upon releasing itself, Gustavo fell to the pavement, but managed to spring up quickly. According to Gustavo, the entity weighed some 50 kilograms (110 pounds) when he lifted it.

While he followed the small alien, he noticed something even more surprising: two other small aliens were approaching him. One of them flashed him with a “flashlight” – apparently they had come to assist their comrade. Blinded by the light and unable to see what was happening for a few seconds, he took hold of his Boy Scout knife when his vision was restored, and saw that the same diminutive alien was now coming toward him. Instinctively, the man stabbed the creature’s shoulder, only to feel the blade slip off its skin, which was as tough as rhinoceros hide. When the extraterrestrial tried to seize him, Gustavo realized it had sharp claws on each of its four fingers.



Meanwhile, his assistant, José Ponce, emerged from the right side of the van and headed toward the spherical object. Suddenly, a small hairy extraterrestrial emerged from the right, hurriedly walking up a steep slope with fistfuls of dirt in its hand.

When the tiny alien noticed Ponce, it jumped two meters, entered the hatch and vanished into the object. Seconds later, another entity emerged, armed with a long, shiny tube in its hands, pointing it at both men.

They suddenly felt a vibration that encompassed their bodies – Gustavo and José were rendered paralyzed. They later saw the brilliant sphere rising majestically and silently to a point in the night sky before vanishing altogether.



José Ponce ran to the Traffic Office in Petare, located on the same street where the bizarre event took place. Minutes later, Gustavo Gonzalez arrived at the same location, and after having a drink of water to recover from the ordeal, both men enthusiastically described their experience to the duty officers – Manuel Moreno and E. Dominguez, stated that both men entered their office at 2:30 in the morning with that “story”, but that they were neither drunk nor insane. What they said and described was true, packed with details that seemed real enough.

José Ponce and Gustavo were able to describe the aliens thus: the one Gustavo grappled with was hairy, noseless, with glowing eyes, short stature, barefoot and wore a strange item of clothing resembling a loincloth. It was very agile and strong for its size and was able to break away from his grasp, leaping like a cat.

Later in the morning, officer Jesus Antonio Yanes declared that what had occurred to Gustavo and José was unique. Subsequently Gustavo complained of a pain on his left side and was taken to a hospital to receive medical attention. An x-ray was taken at three in the afternoon (15:00 hours) to discard the possibility of a fractured rib, but muscular distension was found on that side of his body.

Following the incident, people who knew both men personally stated that they must have had an extraordinary experience, and had proven they were not drunk. Antonio Cherchi, manager of “Industira Nacional de Embutidos C.A.” or “Schelper” stated he knew Gustavo and José from seeing them and dealing with them, and took them for serious, hard-working people who arrived at two o’clock a.m. every day to retrieve their products. He also acknowledged having never received any complaints about them, or having noticed anything unusual about them. If they say they saw something or had contact with something, he believes them.

Moreover, journalists who interviewed them ascertained that Gustavo and José were not intoxicated at the time of the incident. Had they been drunk, the traffic authorities would have reproved them for it. Furthermore, when Gustavo was taken to the emergency room, he was somewhat nervous and his left side appeared a little bit bruised.

Other witnesses:

Two others testified to having heard or seen something on Bella Vista Street. One of them was Ms. Maria Antonieta Avellaneda, who stated she was awake between one and two o’clock in the morning, and at the time of the incident felt something “like an explosion and sibilant hiss” but paid no mind to it, because she was preparing a remedy for a sick child in her home.

Likewise, Mr. Concepcion Garrachan, who lived in Petare, noted that hours before the incident he had seen “a strange luminous device that made no noise whatsoever” flying to the south of Petare, and that other people and seen it as well. Later, at two o’clock in the morning, an explosion was heard over Buena Vista Street and other areas of the Caracas Valley.

Mr. Manuel Maria Soria, living at Avenida Sucre No. 31, only three blocks from the site indicated by the witnesses to the landing, stated that when heading back home around 2:30 a.m. in a rented car, he suddenly noticed a bright light flooding his vehicle, causing him to stop for a moment. He suddenly heard something like a sharp whistling sound – piercing and unbearable. He stepped on the pedal and sped away at full speed, reaching his home and telling his mother - Mrs. Juanita Soria - about the incident. The woman said that she had heard “something” but believed it was “one of those aircraft purchased by the government that make a lot of noise.”

Another witness was Dr. Julio Garcés, a lab technician at the Pérez de León Hospital in Petare. He said that shortly after two a.m. on Sunday morning, while driving near Buena Vista in his car, he heard a something like a “scream of terror” issued by a “squealing voice”. He stopped to see what was going on, but saw nothing. All he could hear was screams, but was unable to ascertain their origin.

Also, Mrs. Elsa Duderstadt, a resident of Calle 9 in Los Palos Grandes, said that she was in her garden when she noticed a very bright light toward Petare. It was a very intense light, rising skyward in the shape of a disk, changing color and flaring for a few minutes. Her son, Rodolfo Duderstadt, reiterated his mother’s statements categorically and noted: “The sighting we have had has given us much to think about, as it occurred at the same time as in Petare. We did not know about the details of the case until it appeared in the newspapers.” Ms. Ursula Wiede, a niece of Mrs. Elsa Dudterstadt, also had the chance to see the strange object.



Resdients of the Los Caobos urbanization living along the old rail line that leads to the city of Petare, noted that on that very same morning, and at the exact moment, they saw a very bright light passing over their homes, lighting their rooms with bright flashes. Many abstained from making statements to the press to avoid being derided as insane or being summoned by National Security, which had looked into the matter.

Mrs. Avelina Del Paso, a resident of Calle Andrés Bello, noted that several police and “National Security” cars reported to the area to assert control and search the streets, homes and lots where the explosion was felt after the light had gone by.

Mr. Francisco Leal, a resident of Calle 7, felt the explosion much like other residents of the sector. Entire families were outside their homes, standing in fear, discussing the possibility that it could be some sort of “weapon”, indicating that according to statements made to the police, it was a bluish, intense light that moved upward. Everyone heard the strange noise.

Thus ends the report of an event that is still remains unclear, even among our contemporary UFO reports, because the media (the press) and science are unwilling to disclose it to the public, do not want to study it or even acknowledge it.

[Translation © 2013 S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Guillermo D. Gimenez, Planeta UFO]

Thursday, December 05, 2013

Argentina: The Anomalous Humanoid Figure of November 2010



While we are still on the lookout for the results of the photo analysis on the towering Necochea "humanoid", Guillermo Giménez has sent us another photograph - taken on November 10, 2010 - that shows a humanoid silhouette standing in the water (or advancing through the water) also in Necochea. The image forms part of the collection of Luis Burgos of FAO but there is no mention of any analysis. So we share it with our readers in the same way it was given to us: "As Is". Clever computer trickery? An interdimensional being? A water elemental? It's anyone's guess.

Monday, December 02, 2013

Argentina: Anomalous Humanoid Figure in Necochea

Contributing editor Guillermo D. Giménez submits these intriguing photographs with the following message: "Magnification of the photograph taken on November 19 [2013] along the coast of Necochea (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) where a towering humanoid figure can be seen over the coast. What do you think? Photograph is being analyzed by FAO - Argentinean Ufology Foundation - directed by Luis Burgos from La Plata."

INEXPLICATA will post any updates and the results of the analysis. Thanks, Guillermo!





Sunday, December 01, 2013

Cattle Mutilations: Interview with a Puma Hunter



Argentinean cattle mutilation researcher Daniel Ubaldo Padilla posted this interview with a cattleman and hunter as part of his ongoing investigations into his country's mutilation phenomenon. "The idea of this interview," he writes, "is to disabuse the notion of the puma as the apex regional predator. Pumas did not attack the animal appearing in the photographs [at the start of the video]. Nor are pumas still causing mutilations in La Rioja. Over the years, these strange depredations (mutilations) could have been camouflaged by successive deaths, with the blame for all of these deaths and mutilations being laid upon the puma."

Daniel Padilla: Well, we're here with Nicanor Gonzalez, who is going to tell us a little about...his hunting experience, shall we say, gained by being a disciple of his father in law, Teodoro Vizuela, who was a great hunter. He will be telling us a bit about puma hunting. Here we have a puma trap and a cured puma hide, so, Don Vizuela, please -- I mean, Don Nicanor Gonzalez, sorry -- thank you so much for the attention you've given us, and for welcoming us into your home after journeying so many kilometers.

Nicanor Gonzalez: No, not at all. I'm very grateful that you've come so far, having made such a long trip, I'm very thankful

Daniel Padilla: I would like to ask you some questions about the animals that attack cattle in these regions. How did you learn to hunt pumas?

Nicanor Gonzalez: Yes, my father-in-law was the real hunter, he had one hundred and five dead critters. Toward the end I’d help him out, yes. And you put the prey, as we call it, in the places where it hunts. The animal can be a goat or a calf, we
set the trap, and by the following night, the predator will return. Sometimes it escapes. You can also set the traps wherever it goes to pee or defecate. It'll return in a few days, maybe fifteen days, twenty days or [you can set the trap] in the water, like in that reservoir where they come to drink. Because in these parts we don't have watering holes, like they're called elsewhere. All we have is the reservoir.

Daniel Padilla: Here in this area you're the only one who has this setup?

Nicanor Gonzalez: Yes, there are others, but at times when there is no rain, like October or November, there's very little water left. If it's very hot, the critters are forced to come and drink. Due to the heat, they have to find water.

Daniel Padilla: Pumas, generally speaking, during these large hunts of over a hundred pumas like the ones your father-in-law hunted, the animals still presented a problem to cattle at the time, and still do.

Nicanor Gonzalez: Yes. [A problem] to goats. He had many goats, and [the pumas] would kill them. One, two, three, four...many. And that's what he did. He trapped them over a year or two, keeping track, logging them down.

Daniel Padilla: Did you get to hunt a puma --

Nicanor Gonzales: Yes. About three or four...we caught them by the reservoir [unintelligible]

Daniel Padilla: Could you see how a puma attacks, let's say a bovine. What's the predatory action of the puma?

Nicanor Gonzalez: Yes, I've seen them attacking little colts and small mules. Like I was telling you the other day, it attacks them from behind, grabs them by both legs, jumps on their backs, claws them on either side. Terrible. Then it exhausts the animal, causing it to run until it catches it. Then it jumps on their necks and stabs [the animal] with its hunting claws.

Daniel Padilla: So first it stabs it with the claws…

Nicanor Gonzalez: Yes, well, when the animal is a large one. Otherwise, when it's small like a goat or a kid, no, it just waits it around like a toy. It drags them, covers them up well, to come back at night to eat. If he hunts during the day, we'll come back at night.

Daniel Padilla: With your knowledge of the field, what other type of animal could be responsible for cattle attacks. Is there any other animal?

Nicanor Gonzalez: No, here in this area there is nothing else known. Just pumas. No,no. There is no other known animal.

[Transcription and translation (c) 2013, S. Corrales IHU with thanks to Daniel Padilla]