Source: Menorca (online newspaper)
Date: Sunday October 4 2015
Spain: Military Aviator Recalls UFO Sighting Over Menorca
Rubén P. Atienza | MENORCA
A military flier says he pursued the object involved in the Manises Incident right to the island. The retired air force officer described in detail his pursuit of unidentified objects while aboard a Mirage fighter - a chase that led him to Menorca.
The unknown object incident that occurred on 11 November 1979 and popularly known as the Manises Incident is probably Spain's most famous UFO case. The mystery even reached the halls of congress, where deputy Enrique Múgica requested an explanation of what had taken place. There have been ample discussions about the incident, particularly following the declassification of the Ejército del Aire (Spanish Air Force) files in 1994. But two decades later, the story is once again in the news, and in this case, with a connection that involves Menorca.
All of this arose from an interview on Radio Valencia (Cadena SER) of one of the main witnesses, retired Air Force Captain Fernando Cámara. The military man complied with the order to takeoff from the Los Llanos Air Force Base in Albacete in a Mirage fighter with the goal of intercepting some red lights that were stalking a commercial flight of the now-defunct TAE airline, which had just taken off from Mallorca on its way to Tenerife, and was forced to make an emergency landing in Valencia with 109 passengers aboard.
"I saw the light, although my radar didn't pick up anything. I was flying some 1000 kilometers an hour, and when I caught up to it, the light went from being static to flying in front of me at the same speed. I was aware that the object had detected me, because my fighter's alarm systems were triggered. But I was only able to see it with my own eyes," said Cámara on the radio broadcast.
The military jet requested permission to go supersonic, but when the pilot managed to approach the object, it matched his speed. He decided to pursue it to Zaragoza, but he decided to break off pursuit. Returning to Valencia, he was asked to fly over the vicinity of Sagunto, where strange lights had also been seen. "When I got there, I found myself facing a white disk. It was very different from the other light, but the interference it caused on my plane was the same. I chased it to the Menorca area, but faced with the impossibility of reaching it, and given the lack of fuel, I decided to turn back," he said.
[Translation (c) 2015 S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Ruben Atienza (Menorca) and Guillermo Giménez (Planeta UFO)]