Guatemala: A UFO Crash at Mataquescuintla?

Guatemala: A UFO Crash at Mataquescuintla?
By I.I.E.E. (Instituto de Investigaciones Exobiológicas)

Within the UFO phenomenon, saucer crashes have a special halo. The best one of these is the one that took place in 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico, but as time goes by, new cases emerge which still amaze us, and this is the episode which we shall analyze in this section. It occurred in the small country of Guatemala and is confirmed by the information in our possession.

The main witness – Mrs. Maria Candelaria Hernández – was around 74 years old at the time, leading us to believe that the incident took place between 1938 and 1939, making it one of the oldest UFO crash episodes known.

The witness told her son Pablo the story of some strange events that took place in a property near her home, specifically the “La Concepcion” farm, now owned by Mrs. Antonieta de Braun and which has been in her family for generations.

A child of Pablo Hernandez told the story in 1983 to Guatemalan UFO researcher Oscar Padilla, who made the necessary verifications to vouch for the case, with very solid grounds for believing it was real.

The facts can be summarized as follows:

Mrs. Candelaria was washing laundry in one of the water pools known as Las Charquitas when she heard a deafening roar. Looking to the sky, she was startled to see a fireball speeding past. This incendiary mass flew over the cypresses in the area, and she noticed that the trees shook by the air displaced by the bolide’s passing.

Mrs. Candelaria was bemused, but the urgency of finishing the laundry entrusted to her by the policemen stationed in the area overcame her curiosity. She only remembers that around five o’clock in the afternoon, some children emerged from the woods, telling her excitedly: “Doña Cande, go see the little dolls that fell from the sky, behind the stables where they run the horses! They’re all scorched and smell like burning rubber.”

Despite the strange statement by the boys, her tiredness and the burden of the freshly washed laundry, made her desist. She set upon the long trail that would lead her back home.

On the next day, Mrs. Candelaria woke up early to prepare corn tortillas for breakfast. Despite the fact that nothing ever happened in her town, she heard rumors that many people were heading toward the cypresses where she had seen the fireball go down. She noticed that most of these people were soldiers, policemen, farm security and some “gringos” who were not known in the area.



At 8:30 a.m., all these people were descending upon the scene. The local police chief, who was a family friend, showed her an aluminum box, like those he had seen in changing rooms, carried by several policemen. One of the policemen was also a family friend, and told her: “Look, Dona Cande – the little Martians who fell from the sky.”

Mrs. Candelaria recalls a member of her family saying: “Those poor little angels, how they burned.” They immediately made the sign of the Cross, and more than one said something along the lines of: “May God forgive them.”

The police chief took the metal box, going away with other law enforcement officers and some Americans who accompanied them. Mrs. Candelaria still remembered the frightened expressions on her relatives’ faces when they looked into the aluminum box.

This, then, is the summarized and transcribed story of the statements made by Pablo Hernández, Doña Candelaria’s son, who perfectly recalled the story his mother told him, and which stayed with him over the years. We have, of course, made certain adaptations to the eyewitnesses’ words and statements to make them more understandable and universal. But the essence of the story is correct.

Initial investigations took place in May 1994. Guatemalan researcher Oscar Padilla managed to locate Mr. Arnaldo Padilla Rojas, who owns a farm in the lovely landscape leading into the Municipality of Mataquescuintla de Jalapa. Mr. Padilla Rojas told researcher Padilla: “Over 40 years ago, when I was young, some people from Colís told me something had fallen. A strange object, some said it was a balloon, others said it was a device resembling a balloon.”

The information provided by Mr. Arnaldo Padilla Rojas is confusing, as he did not see anything. However, based on reports for locals who discussed the matter, an essential conclusion can be reached: throughout the investigation, it was possible to ascertain that “some sort of pact or sworn agreement existed among the locals to conceal this event.” Padilla Rojas also confirmed that in his youth, many people remarked that “some strange little men” had been collected from the site.

Inquiries led to some new witnesses. This time it was Mrs. Tomasa Toledo de la Cruz, almost 90, with a very lucid and sound memory. This nearly centenarian woman at first denied that there was any truth to the rumors, but her daughter Fluvia Cruz de González indeed remembered that around 1979-1980 four people – claiming to be miners – reached the area looking for “a golden bell” which according to them was buried on the family’s property. A local legend of the time existed about a gang of brigands called “Los Lucios” who raided the area, and people used to bury valuable objects. Even so, the search by the so-called “miners” was not very convincing, since their excavations were disorganized and gave the impression of being a random search.

Mr. Pablo Hernández provided a new name to the investigative process. This person was María Hernández, who lived at a home near the scene of the events at the time. The exact location was Colonia Bethania in Mataquescuintla [specific address omitted – SC]
Eyewitness María Hernández recalled that when she was 18 years old (being 74 at the time she was interviewed), before she married, thereby deducing that the event occurred 56 years ago, adding for greater precision that it could have been 1938 in the village of Morales. There were many witnesses to the object’s fall, which she openly calls a “flying saucer”, showing that the she would later associate it to later news items when the UFO phenomenon emerged. She added that locals would talk about how some “blonde midgets” would wander around the area. There was even talk in town about a female woodcutter’s disappearance – an event witnessed by the woman’s own son as he hid in the bushes.

During the interview, Mrs. Hernández expressed her fear at the similarity between these midgets and what has been appearing recently on television and the news. For this reason, she adds, she tries not to dwell on the subject.

The investigation went through the Department of Santa Rosa, Casillas, San Rafael de las Flores, and finally Morales, which is a village in Mataquescuintla.

Inquiries determined that there are few people still alive from that age. Mr. Pedro Cano recalled that some 50 years ago there was much talk about the disappearance of a woman who had been kidnapped by a strange flying machine in the area. However, for every solid piece of evidence, one could also tell that the older folks consulted prefer to remain silent, giving rise to the reasonable suspicion that there was a mutual agreement that commanded their silence.

The investigation led to the home of Mr. José I. Hernández and his wife, who confirmed all the accounts told by their old neighbors. Chance, ever-present, manifested itself when Victor Manuel Hernandez, the family’s son, better known as “Tito” locally and also known for his sad fondness for drink. During a moment of lucidity, he offered some information which proved to be fully coherent after analysis, and which proved that the scene of the events was very near to the house of witness Tomasa Toledo de la Cruz.

Tito’s assistance was essential in locating the site. Perhaps by being misunderstood in a peasant environment, and to avenge himself on his own people, he led researcher Oscar Padilla along a narrow dirt road leading to a place known as “La Minita”. It was a sort of narrow path, filled with brambles and oilseed plants [whose thorns] pierced our socks, producing intense itching. The field was full of holes, and had certainly been excavated for a long time by others. The site, at the end of a river, was determined to be within the confines of the “La Concepcion” farm and old pools of water. It was, without question, the place where Mrs. María Candelaria Hernández saw an incandescent object fall into the nearby woods fifty years earlier, scant meters from a football field.

Inquiries led us to confirm the existence of a pact of silence among the locals which made this possible UFO crash to go unnoticed. The story never reached the media, particularly due to this remote location, where isolation fosters robberies and all manner of misdeeds.
This also served to conceal the facts.

Subsequent inquiries had to be carried out with great caution, to the extent of requiring materials for self-defense and an all-terrain vehicle suitable for the rough roads in the area. It is clear that something indeed took place, and that a pact of silence between the residents and the authorities of those times existed.

Was the object that fell from the sky buried? What is the reason for all the excavation activity where the object allegedly fell?
Several local legends speak of a buried “local bell” - A folk legend or the assimilation of an actual fact that is about to become a popular tradition?

The conclusions reached by Oscar Padilla suggest that the events were real, and he recently reaffirmed this belief when consulted by this author.

[Translation (c) 2015 S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to IIEE and Revista Investigación]

Addendum to Matequescuintla:

Mataquescuintla was in the news again in 2003, when Guatemala's Diario La Hora newspaper reported in its April 28 edition that a "strange object" had fallen from the sky, causing dismay among local residents. The strange device, resembling "an axle wrapped in nylon", landed in a coffee plantation owned by Luvia Cruz, setting fire to some of the coffee bushes. Far from being anything exotic, authorities demonstrated that it was a fragment of an Italian research satellite. A police report provided greater detail, stating the unusual material was synthetic, but not explosive, weighing nearly thirty pounds, measuring a meter in length. The Italian satellite was launched in 1996 to gather data on X-rays.

Paraguay: 16th Century UFO Sightings by Jesuit Missionaries

Source: IIEE Chile
Date: N/A

Paraguay: 16th Century UFO Sightings by Jesuit Missionaries
By the IIEE Editorial Board

The Jesuit order assayed a revolutionary Christian socialism among the Guaraní peoples of Paraguay that challenged the avarice of Spanish colonists and the Portuguese bandeirantes (fortune hunters). This atypical social organization was known as the “reducción” model and took place in the early Sixteenth century (approximately 1607).

The religious order reached the area and encountered the encomienda (mandate) system practiced by the Franciscans, who were following the system imposed by the Conquest in its dealings with the natives. The Jesuits were thoroughly opposed to the system, and while the foundations of the reduction system were not a Jesuit invention, its use was a counterweight to the economic system used by the Franciscans.

It is precisely here, searching for historical background information, that we have discovered that the Archives of the Society of Jesus contain anomalous events, describing countless events suggesting that the area was also a source of mysteries and enigmas, as are many others in South America, and that the UFO phenomenon accompanied these Jesuits and natives in setting the foundations of this new nation. One document in these archives reads as follows:

“On the 10th of August of 1631 at the San Ignacio de Ipané reduction, something strange and luminous was seen to fly in the heavens. Between six and seven in the evening, a luminous globe of strange grandeur was seen to rise, flying unhurriedly and rather slowly, over the town, like a full moon. It gave off a large number of sparks toward the east, and upon reaching the western horizon, blazed with greater light, which was then diminished. In the time it takes to recite the Apostle’s Creed, it issued a tremendous report like thunder.”

A few kilometers away from this reduction there is a region belonging to the Chaco Province known as Campo del Cielo (due to the large number of meteorites that once fell in the area), making it possible to think that another meteor was involved, but when the document is analyzed word by word, as researcher Antonio Las Heras did in one of his excellent works on the subject, we have no choice but to allow some room for doubt, and the possibility that the object reported was not a meteorite.



The object traveled slowly. The words “it was seen to rise in the east” give the impression that it immediately “gained altitude”, thus making it one of the first eyewitness reports of a UFO takeoff in this region, which covers the province of Misiones, near the Brazil-Paraguay border. Without going into detail like this excellent Argentinean researcher has done, we believe that the document in question is a valuable one, providing evidence that we have been visited by the these flying objects over the ages, objects whose point of origin we are hesitant to define.

An 18th Century Account

The Paraguayan War was dramatic and harsh, as are all wars. It was a conflict between Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, with a death toll that rose into the thousands among the belligerent parties. It is precisely at this point in history that we find another significant UFO event in this small nation’s history.

On November 26, 1866, a Brazilian brigantine under the command of Capt. Augusto Leverger (who would later be elevated to the style of Baron of Melgazó) was sailing along the Paraguay River. While on the deck that evening, he saw a phenomenon for which he could not find a logical explanation. The event was recorded as follows:

“At five hours and 47 minutes of the morning,” explained Captain Leverger in his report, “with the skies being perfectly clear and calm, I witnessed a luminous globe that proceeded to execute a perfect 30 degree arc to the Northwest, leaving a band of light in its wake from which three bodies could be made out. Their glow was brighter than that of the band of light, and equaled, or perhaps exceeded, the brightness of the full moon during good weather. After 25 minutes of observation, which was also shared by members of the ship’s complement, everything vanished abruptly and no more atmospheric disturbances were recorded.”



Leverger adds: “I spoke with the Brazilian ambassador and others in the city of Asunción, who testify to having seen this event.”

When the positions personally detected by Leverger are submitted to trigonometric analysis, it is estimated that the phenomenon must have occurred in the atmospheric region and at a distance of only 59 leagues (203 miles) from Asunción.

This is the sworn paragraph of Captain Leverger’s report. Subsequent investigations performed by the witness before the authorities in Asunción ascertained that the sighting occurred in the upper atmosphere just short of 203 miles from the capital city. All inquiries determined that the observation was fully coherent, and therefore of incalculable value. María Virginia Capalló, an Argentinean researcher, engaged in library research to follow up on this event. She determined that this could well be the first journalistic news item to appear on the subject of UFOs, predating even the information appearing in the London “Times” in 1870.

Summarizing Captain Leverger’s sighting, we can only say that it is impossible to think that the object seen by the witness could have been something created by the technology available at the time, bearing in mind that aircraft took to the skies at the start of the 20th century and their tests were sporadic. Explanations involving a meteorite or an atmospheric phenomenon don not match the captain’s statement, given the length of his sighting, which was no less than 25 minutes.

It should not come as a surprise to anyone that the UFO phenomenon has a long history, and we have alluded more than once to documentation from the Spanish Conquest and Church chroniclers who made sightings and unusual phenomena known. This has bolstered our belief that the phenomenon has always been with us, and although its shape may have changed over time, its essence remains the same, no matter what anyone says.

Scott Corrales notes:

There appears to be a discrepancy in the dates given for the Captain Leverger's sighting on the Paraguay River.

This article posits 1866, while Brazil's Revista UFO specifies 5 July 1846, while the future Baron Melgazo was in command of a gunboat during the Paraguay War. This date is further corroborated by the date furnished in the Gazette of the Empire of Brazil ( Augusto João Manuel Leverger, Gazeta Official do Império do Brasil, 26 de novembro de 1846, vol. I, n° 74, p. 295).

Our friend and colleague Ronald Maidana Torres's own research gives the brigantine/gunboat's name as '14 de Julio' Complicating matters further, the Paraguayan War took place between 1864-1870, long after the sighting. Capt. Leverger was apparently on an "espionage mission" for the Brazilian crown.

[Translation © 2015, S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Raul Nuñez, IIEE]

Argentina: Patagonian Oil Workers Claim Seeing a UFO

Source: Diario Nuevo Día (newspaper)
http://www.eldiarionuevodia.com.ar/regional/info-general/2015/12/18/trabajadores-petroleros-aseguran-vieron-ovni-18640.html
Date: 12.21.2015

Argentina: Patagonian Oil Workers Claim Seeing a UFO

In this incident, an oil worker took several photographs of the landscape at the El Tordillo field. His initial aim was to take a photograph of the afternoon, but he came across a circular green light. While it could easily be a flaw of the digital camera, his co-workers claim that they took other photos of the landscape and no green circle was visible.

“The photo was taken with a Samsung S5 cellphone,” explained Leo, one of the workers who had access to the image. The photos have circulated among the workers’ WhatsApp accounts for at least a month. Adding information to the witnesses, Leo remarked that there is no glass between the cellphone’s lens and the landscape. “[Photos] were taken from several angles, but the sphere remains there,” he stated.

(Photo credit: El Patagónico)


Lucas, who took the photo, made assurances through El Patagónico’s WhatsApp account that it is not a hoaxed photo. One of the analyses performed by his co-workers using an embossing filter shows that it is neither a drawing nor a light, but an object.


[Translation (c) 2015 S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Guillermo Giménez, Planeta UFO]

Alfonso Salazar: UFOs Over Mexico CIty

Our friend and colleague Alfonso Salazar posted the following to his Facebook page: "UFOs OVER MEXICO CITY. This afternoon (December 16, 2015) as of 1 in the afternoon a fleet of approximately 100 unidentified objects was seen from the Mixcoac area. According to Alfonso Flores, these objects were visible over Mexico City from the city's International Airport, where personnel engaged in maintenance duties saw a formation of around 20 object flying in a "V" configuration. This was witnessed by around 30 technicians and airport staff around 3 in the afternoon. Subsequently, at 5:30 in the afternoon, a white spherical object was seen flying from north to south. A Boeing 767 over the Gulf of Mexico flew under this object. As of this time, some 30 witnesses at MCIA saw the object, which gained height as it flew north of the airport."

Chile: The Angol Humanoids (1977)

Chile: The Angol Humanoids (1977)
By Raul Nuñez (IIEE) and Raul Gajardo Lepold.

In the city of Angol, one evening in the autumn of 1977, a couple of retired schoolteachers found the nocturnal peace interrupted by a highly unusual experience. They have never forgotten the strange visitors they saw in their garden that night, and they have never found a specific explanation to the situation, nor did they make their experience known to the customary media outlets, reserving their experience exclusively for IIEE (Instituto de Investigaciones Exobiologicas)

Thirty four years have elapsed since that experience. Their airtight silence and identities have been respected. It was only this year, thanks to the good offices of our correspondent Raul Gajardo Lepold, Major (Ret.) of the Carabineros force, that the couple has made us welcome in their home, given us their impressions, and more importantly, shared their hearts and minds with us, trusting in our discreet and respectful efforts.

The incident was recorded thus at the time:
Angol, 24 September 2003
Main protagonist: M.S.C.R, age 68, married, degree in education, a retired instructor of basic education in the year 1995, residing at Avenida O’Higgins, who states as follows:

Between the months of March and April, of the year 1977, I believe, I was in my bedroom one night asleep beside my husband, L.R.P., 69, also an instructor of basic education, who retired in the year 1997. All of a sudden, around 3:00 a.m., I woke up frightened and startled on account of a powerful beam of light that lit up our bedroom completely, as well as sounds similar to those of gears in motion. The light seemed to come from the small window. I didn’t notice if the light was coming through the wooden walls, but the room was completely lit up. The window had shears and drapes. This is something I’ve never understood.



I got up and kneeled on the bed, which was next to the window, facing west, and drew the curtains a few centimeters. I was surprised when I looked outside. In our neighbor’s back yard, some 7 or 8 meters distance, over the tops of two tall “paltos” (avocado trees) standing some 5 meters tall, there was an enormous object measuring between 4 and 5 meters in diameter, aluminum-colored, shaped like two deep saucers joined in the middle, where I could see something like a thick , broad machine base protruding around it, in its midsection. It had a triangular dome above it, conical, with multiple portholes on its centerline, which I estimated at 20-30 centimeters, spaced 10 centimeters between each other, and projecting powerful beams of light downward. Their colors were reddish, orange-ish and sometimes violet-blue. They looked like rays of light aimed at the ground, illuminating the backyard and home of my in-laws, who were my neighbors then, and are now deceased.
Our own back yard and house were illuminated. [The properties] were separated at the time by an old wooden board fence, some of them open. I believe that those lights illuminated a radius of between 40 to 50 meters. Under the machine base, [the object’s] body was trapezoidal, with a flat base, unlike the upper, which ended in a point. The object looked like a little top, suspended in the air, static and not even vibrating. Its surface looked smooth to me, without joints or screws, almost molded in a single piece. A thick, solid and powerful structure. The dome must have been some 3 meters tall, perhaps 4 meters, and base between 2-3 meters, smaller than the former, in any event.

I woke up my husband at that point and asked him to take a look through the window. I must confess that I was very frightened and felt self-conscious. But I went to the dining room, nonetheless, where there was a similar window, which just happened to face the object I was looking at squarely and directly. Both the dining room and the bedroom were completely lit. These rooms are some five meters distant from each other.

A few moments later, once I was in the dining room, I saw that two doors, like sliding doors, were opening to either side on the central section of [the object’s] lower body. I immediately saw within the frame of that doorway, but somewhat recessed, the black silhouette of a large-headed being with large, almond-shaped eyes, but having a small, thin body, with large four-fingered hands. The index finger was the longest. Its legs were straight and its feet were long, “like frogman flippers”, dark grey, like slate. This little man made an odd, swift movement that I could not notice in detail, didn’t manage to catch it, not sure whether he crouched or not, but a sort of ladder began to come down or come unhinged, deploying itself as if step by step, slowly and gradually. It appeared to be made of a thin, black material, with trapezoidal steps, until it hit the ground. The small being then descended facing forward, in other words, with its back to the vehicle, one step at a time. That’s when I noticed it had stiff legs. They did not flex where the knees should have been. When [this being] reached the ground, another small being appeared at the doorway, and it began descending in a similar manner. A total of six small beings did this. The door remained open and the ladder remained hanging. The door had a width of some 1.5 to 2 meters, approximately.
On the ground, the six beings roamed the back yard in every direction, in a disorderly, upright manner. I ascertained that their knees did not bend; they lowered their heads, which they were unable to turn. Their arms moved at their sides in unison with the movement of their wobbly torsos. With their arms detached from their bodies –somewhat raised and arched – they moved their hands and fingers quickly, using their wrists. On several occasions, two of these creatures stood face to face, moving their fingers rapidly. I had the impression that they were communicating among themselves. No ears were visible. Their skulls were very bulky in relation to their bodies, with something like protuberant bones in the upper parts and their temples. [The skulls] were lightbulb-shaped. Their eyes were almond-shaped, large and black. I never saw them blink. Instead of a nose, I saw something flat, and their mouths were like a small button with a central orifice. Their thoraxes were triangular in shape, tapered down to a narrow waist. Their legs were short, straight and thin, and their feet very long and blackish, as well as their hands. Their bodies appeared to be fastened into full-length jumpsuits, flat grey in color, seamless and slate-colored. I didn’t notice if they wore belts or anything on their backs, I only noticed they were somewhat “full”. Their gluteal area was flat or even, from where their legs emerged.

Given that the six beings were wandering in every direction in the adjacent yard, the two dogs kept there would only whine and howl softly, evidently frightened. They were on the side of the house, where they slept, but then they fled from there.

After all this time, which I estimate around 10 minutes, I had overcome the fear that those creatures had instilled in me. They were unhandsome, but very curious in their movements and way of being, and I took them to be intelligent, with a particularly developed sense of hearing.

And so it was that I dared to open the dining room window curtain a little more. But at that same instant, all of the creatures placed themselves in front of the window I was looking out of, but at the other side of the fence, and the lights of their craft lit up the area I was in even more strongly. That’s when I felt fear, and I squatted to avoid being seen, but the room was fully illuminated. I could even see my fingernails. I almost didn’t breathe or move, until I plucked up enough courage and slowly rose to look out the window again. I discovered that in the yard, below the window where I stood, one of the creatures was walking past, as though trying to track my presence. I got a good look at that moment. I was no taller than 80 centimeters tall, cute as it walked, since it projected the impression that its head was too heavy for it. They seemed like friendly creatures to me. I felt as if fear had given way to friendship and I was fully relaxed, very calm.

I didn’t see how that creature passed onto the next yard. I kept looking as they left. I started going up the folding ladder, one by one, facing the craft, as a man would normally do. While one ascended, the others kept watch at the bottom. Until all of them re-entered the craft. Before this, I should say that as they walked on the ground, I glanced at their vehicle, especially the sliding door, which had been left open. All that could be seen was a white interior, as bright as an illuminated tile.

When all six beings were aboard the craft, a silhouette became visible at the door once more, to bring up the collapsible ladder. I didn’t see how he did it, since [the ladder] folded itself up little by little, until it was left within the craft’s inner edge. The door then shut from the sides to the center. The lights became as bright as day, and the craft began to rise slowly and vertically with very little noise, about two meters. Suddenly, there was a sound like a firecracker, but louder, and it flew off horizontally toward the north, as if toward the “Húsares” Regiment. The lights turned off as it flew off at an inconceivable rate of speed.

Everything went completely dark, as there was no moon that night. The silence was so deep that I returned to bed with a strange sensation, a joyful one, arising from what I had seen and experienced. I slept soundly until the next day.

I woke up around 9:00 a.m. – I got up and my curiosity was such that the first thing I saw from the dining room window was that the tops of the avocado trees were scorched. Their dark-brown leaves were wilted. It was only then that I fully realized what had occurred that night. The avocados never again produced fruit. They began drying up very slowly until they were cut down. One of the whining dogs died shortly after, without having been sick at any point. It was the one that was closest to them, because [the creatures] stood where the little dog stepped. I was aware of this, that’s why I can tell you about it.

I told all this to my husband, but he gave it no importance. He was left with the idea that I had imagined it all. But many years have gone by since then – twenty-six – and I remember it all as clearly as if it had occurred yesterday.

I could add this as a conclusion to the experience. At the moment when I had those beings so near me, I felt so happy, as if my body had lightened, become more sensitive to everything. Over time I’ve noticed that my mind is so clear, lucid and able to remember many details and memorable dates, more creative, but I’ve also noticed that I have lost much in the ability to remember faces.

I had never told this to anyone before, because I’m withdrawn and had never had the chance to meet a UFO researcher like Mr. Raul Gajardo Lepold, whom I hope will be able to appreciate this phenomenon, which is so abnormal and alien from our own reality.”

[Translation (c) 2015, S. Corrales, IHU, with thanks to Raul Núñez, IIEE]

Chile: “A UFO Patrolled the Coalfields” (2007)

Chile: “A UFO Patrolled the Coalfields” (2007)

Source: http://www.cronica.cl/edicion_cronica/seccion/articulo.php?id=31358&dia=1169262000
Date: 01.20.2007
Author: Gustavo Aracena

Workers of a company in Lota claim having seen an extraterrestrial craft flying over the commune. These employees believe it stopped in mid-air to observe them.

More than stars can be seen in the skies over Lota. Mario knows this well; he is an employee with a company located only meters from the coast, and on December 8 (2007) he had an experience that has left him in shock to this very day. “I am certain that the crew, if it had one, were aware of my presence and that I was watching them,” he recalls.

It was after 10:00 pm when the worker went to greet the new shift. Around 2:10 a.m., he headed to the northern section of the facilities, and at a distance of 100 meters from the “pandereta” (brick wall) that borders the company’s perimeter, he took a casual look at the sky and saw a “machine” fly overhead.

“There was a fluorescent light around it. No portholes were visible as one would see on an airplane. The object was dark, flat on its underside. It had an oval-shaped tail section with two lights on it. The one on the right was orange-red, and the one on the left violet. Both were intermittent, but not in sequence,” he recalls.

Frightened, he radioed a co-worker, who told him: “No, it’s just a plane. I signaled it with a flashlight, and it’s a plane.” Bu Mario did not believe this. “I have seen commercial aircraft flying over the city and in spite of their altitude; one always hears the sound of their jet engines. This was not a craft made on Earth.”

In spite of the shocking experience, Mario believes himself to be among the “chosen.”

“I saw that the machine was over Cerro Fundición in Lota Alto. From my perspective, it could be seen over Blocks 6 and 7 (apartment buildings). Then it made like a 90 degree turn, which puzzled me even more, because I’d never seen something in the air with these characteristics. The flying machine appeared to be patrolling the area,” he stated.

According to the witness, the object continued on its way, flying over a considerable section of Lota and then heading for the woods on the Cordilleran forest belt. The sighting lasted between 10 and 15 minutes.

His friends also saw the object. What did they say about it? “They laughed at first, but then they all corroborated that what they saw wasn’t anything man-made. It was odd, but a co-worker said, very seriously: “I think they were among us.”

[Translation (c) 2015, S. Corrales, Institute of Hispanic Ufology]

Colombia: Arcesio Bermúdez, The Man Killed by a UFO

Source: Planeta UFO and Radio Blu (Colombia)
Date: December 2, 2015

Colombia: Arcesio Bermúdez, The Man Killed by a UFO

Arcesio Bermudez was a 54-year-old Colombian who apparently succumbed to the powers of the mysterious UFOs, creatures whose existence is unknown, but who are nonetheless real, according to experts.

Ufologist William Chavez claims that the event took place on the evening of July 4, 1969 in the town of Anolaima, municipality of Cundinamarca, when Arcesio's family climbed a hill to do some star gazing, and managed to see a small light that increased its size substantially.

"Mister Arcesio went out to see what was going on. He stared at it and decided to point his flashlight at the unknown entity at that moment," says the specialist.

Chavez claims that the peasant received a magnetic blast, causing him to feel sick hours later, developing signs of hypothermia shortly after. He was sent to a clinic in Bogotá.

After being hospitalized for several days, experiencing intense fever, the Colombian died under circumstances that medical experts could not explain.

The national police and the army conducted an investigation into the death of the man who seemingly came into contact with an unidentified flying object. However, the authorities were never able to clarify the events.

http://www.bluradio.com/117265/arcesio-bermudez-el-hombre-que-habria-muerto-causa-de-un-on

[Translation (c) 2015 S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Guillermo Giménez, Planeta UFO]


Addendum by Scott Corrales:

This small piece of information by Colombia's Radio Blu does not mention the fact that the case received considerable attention at the time, and not just within Colombian borders. An issue of the TIEMPO newspaper dated 18 July 1969 shows members of the APRO research organization, under the direction of Jim and Coral Lorenzen, along with local authorities and eyewitnesses. The text reads: "They do exist because I saw them," replied Marina Isabel Franco, a young witness to the phenomenon. Scientific evidence corroborates that the strange object was indeed seen by many people. There is interest in this exclusive by EL TIEMPO."



The photo caption adds: At the Tocarema Hacienda un Anolaima, where on the evening of 4 July, more than twelve people saw a strange luminous object identified as a "UFO". Members of the scientific delegation of APRO, reporters for EL TIEMPO, some eyewitnesses to the event and their relatives, inspect the site up to which Arcesio Bermudez ran with a flashlight, trying to see the vehicle as close as possible. It flew quickly over the trees, and it has not yet been possible to determine whether it touched the ground, since there are no visible signs that suggest this. The only person who followed it to that site, Mr. Bermudez, died days later. (Photo credit: Alfonso Angel, for EL TIEMPO)."

More details emerged about Mr. Bermudez's sudden illness after his alleged CE-3. Feeling ill within hours of the event, his malady extended for three days until a relative came to collect him and take him to Bogotá for treatment by car. According to his family, Bermúdez was cold to the touch, and that he leaned against his sister's side in the vehicle. Creepier still is the detail that the side of the sister's body "remained cold until the day she died." Bermudez's preternatural chill was such that the nurses at the Bogotá health center were unable to draw blood samples, as his vital fluid had "crystallized"."

Arcesio Bermudez was treated by César Emerald, Secretary of Health in Bogotá at the time. This distinguished physician would recall that his patient was in a state of hypothermia, with no temperature readings. Dr. Emerald was never able to ascertain the root cause of this chill.

The group of APRO investigators seemed to think that Bermudez had died from a massive dose of gamma rays, and requested that the hapless man's cadaver be exhumed - something the family refused to do. Years later, when the remains were about to be transferred, the Bermúdez family discovered to their horror that the body had been spirited away by unknown hands.

A more detailed medical report can be found in the 17 July issue of the "El Espectador" newspaper. Dr. Emerald is quoted as saying: "The patient was very ill. He presented a cardiac condition, third-degree dehydration brought about by vomiting and diarrhea, and it was impossible for me to control his sickness. Nothing could be done for him. It struck me that the patient should be hypothermic, that is to say, that he should have no temperature whatsoever. All I can tell you is that according to his sickness, the patient should've had a temperature reading, but in fact did not have one. I am speaking from a medical standpoint; therefore I cannot associate his death with the presence of the object [UFO] you are telling me about."

Argentina: The Strange Bariloche Aircraft of 1968

Source: CEFORA and Planeta UFO
Date: 10.10.2015

Argentina: The Strange Bariloche Aircraft of 1968
By Andrea Pérez Simondini - CEFORA
Based on the research of Alejandro Vignati, 2001 Magazine (1968)

Journalist and poet Alejandro Vignatti became involved with the case immediately as a correspondent for "2001: Periodismo de anticipacion" - a scientific popularization magazine for which he served on the editorial board. He got in touch with the principal witnesses of the case, writing a detailed article for the cited publication, which we transcribe below:

BARILOCHE CASE - JULY 23, 1968

RESEARCH BY ALEJANDRO VIGNATI

Source: 2001 Magazine, No. 1 Buenos Aires, October 4, 1968

Temperature: 3.5 degrees (Celsius) and 9 degrees (by noon)
Clouds: Stratocumuli
Forecast: Some rain and isolated showers in the afternoon. Soft breezes over parks, lakes and forests, reaching wind speeds of 40kmh.
Weather Station Director: Roberto Tadeo (age 44, 3 children)
Aeronautical Conditions: Cloudy skies, some clouds at 800-100 meters, good visibility.
Airport Director: Cornelio Gauna
Tower Operator: Walter Furst
Radio Operators: Sigfrido Cortondo and Roberto Mediana

Cornelio Gauna (married with one 19-year-old daughter, 10 years as director of the local airport) drove his red Valiant to work as usual. 4 kilometers from that location, Juan Giss (married, 1 son, age 46) a former tank driver for the German army during WWII, said farewell to his wife and headed into the city to open his clockwork business.

Carmen (a receptionist with Aerolíneas) consulted the AVRO's arrival time in the afternoon and Duilio Salvatore (43, married, 4 children, resident of Bahia) a correspondent for Telenoche in Bariloche, analyzed the best way to film the arrival of an important dignitary during the afternoon. The time was currently ten a.m.

In Austral, traffic dispatcher Margaret Clarke requested information the arrival of an airliner belonging to her company (One-Eleven) flown by commanders Fernandez and Watt. A similar task was performed by the cargo forwarder, Jorge Acosta. Neither was aware of what would happen to their neighbor hours later.

Walter Furst (married, 2 children), the airport's tower controller that morning, did not notice anything odd. He almost surely exchanged a few words with radio operators Sigfrido Cortondo and Roberto Medina (44, married, 3 children) who were there on that day.

In the city, only a few kilometers from the airport, Hector Sabato, director of Bariloche's Channel 3, was calculating his arrival time to the airport to welcome an important dignitary. Moreover, Francisco Caló, the stations technical director, head of the radiotelegram sector, was leaving his post at the state office and headed for the upper floor of the building, facing Lake Nahuel Huapi, for lunch.

It was a sunless day, and a suspicious calm hung in the air. Yet it went unnoticed by Pedro Garrafa, 49, owner of the airport lounge. Egon Rost, an employee of the facility, was thinking about going home and engaging in his secret passion: painting. Without reflecting on deeper matters, Maggie - a tyro skier - met her friends at the Italia Hotel's coffee shop. Dickey Gurrow, 30, proprietor of the "La Vaca Inn" grill, passed by. He also owned a local paint company, and was meeting the owner of the Hotel Parque.

Mr. Eistman awaited the arrival of the AVRO, inbound from Buenos Aires with Cmdr. Emilio Loza at the helm, at 13:15 hours. Demetrio Cottescu (a Romanian pilot living in Bariloche) was inspecting his own aircraft and arranged some tourist flights by phone.

Everything was normal, Walter Furst told "2001". He was working with equipment from the Aerolineas and Austral airlines. When the AVRO appeared, the commander asked me, with certain exasperation, why I wasn't advising him of local traffic at the time. I replied that there was no traffic. The pilot said there was a "large" machine in front of him at the head of the runway.

I looked up and there it was. It was there. A large silent airplane, as if ready to land. I called it on all the frequencies employed and it did not answer. I ordered the AVRO to remain alert, due to the unknown origin and type of airliner. The Austral One-Eleven was order to maintain its altitude due to the unknown intentions of the "mystery plane".

The intruder flew sideways. It was comparable to a Caravelle or a Comet, but with a thinner body, large, stubby wings and silver in color. It was a conventional aircraft of some sort, not a UFO, and had no windows. It flew at some 200-300 kmh. It continued to the end of the runway. Displaying extraordinary maneuverability, it headed for the nearby hills and vanished toward the lake. It appeared minutes later, showing its profile to the airport, following the same path to make its departure. When it got to the end of runway 28, it made a nearly 360 degree turn and left. That's it. Many saw it. Yes, it was an airplane.

"Was there anyone else at that moment?" wondered the journalist. The airport was packed, and employees strove to maintain order. Roberto Medina was inside an AVRO on the runway and Hector Sabato ahd arrived in a hurry.

"Yes," ventured Carmen from Aerolineas Argentinas, "I saw it. I was near the platform and they told me there was an aircraft. They said it was a "flying saucer". I went to the platform's entrance and looked at the runway. It was a conventional-looking machine; it made no noise and had no windows along the fuselage or in the cockpit. At first I thought it was a flying saucer, then I realized it wasn't."

"So what was it then? Did everyone who saw it share the same opinion?"

"It was a stranger craft than we're used to seeing," said Garrafa. "its color was dark grey, silent. It was followed by an AVRO, and the mystery craft flew slowly. I paid it no mind."

"Yes, I gave it little importance," Hector Sabato declared emphatically. "I was in the city and on my way to the airport. I heard the noise of a jet and looked toward the lake. I saw it without really seeing it. It was followed by an AVRO. I cursed myself for arriving late. When I reached the airport I learned of the strange apparition."

Witnesses were emerging. It wasn't easy to enter the office of the Bariloche airport director. Convincing him of the seriousness of our mission, exhausting his kindness and reaching conclusions proved to be an effort. But it was necessary to know, to follow the leads. Who saw it in the city?

A STORM OVER THE WATER

"That day," stated Francisco Caló, "I left my office at the lower floor of the post office at around 13:10 hours and went upstairs to my residence. I had finished lunch and my wife and I were watching a police boat on its way to rescue some youngsters engaged in reckless boating. I live in the city center, facing the lake, and my three dining room windows face it. When the boat approached the kids, that's when I saw it. I remember the clouds were low and it was drizzling. There were large waves and I looked skyward. The machine looked like a Piper, at first. But when it turned, I saw it wasn’t. "This is the Caravelle," I thought.

"But when it made a tight turn, I saw it was wrong. I heard a buzz and thought, "must be the AVRO." It wasn't. When it made a U-turn, returning whence it came, I could see it clearly at a distance of 500 meters. it looked like a dolphin in profile, with two engines, one on each wing, close to the fuselage. Very low speed and altitude, that's what I noticed. The fuselage appeared to be "hanging" from the wings. It vanished toward the airport. The rudder looked like that of a Guarani and was painted blue, I think, with a little yellow triangle. It made tight turns (90 degrees and 360 degrees) and had a Concorde-type nose and fuselage."

His descriptions coincided with those of Margaret Clarke, although she believes it had "delta" wings. Acosta insists that the wings were trapezoidal and very wide. The fact of the matter is that they were all there, and they all had their own impression.

Duilio Salvatore, who saw it on his way to the airport, thought it was an utterly silent machine, flying slowly with the characteristics described by the other witnesses. A characteristic that matches what was seen by Juan Giss, who was able to see the unidentified plane as he had lunch.

"At 13:00 hours I was in my kitchen, eating. I heard an odd sound, similar to that of an aircraft in a power dive. I went to the garden and the clouds were very low, some 250 meters, and I waited for it to appear. It emerged from the clouds, turning at the speed of a DC-4, perhaps slower. I saw an "airplane". To me, it was an AVRO type engine, turboprop, but with an extraordinary maneuverability, some 150 meters distant, over the lake. It was extraordinarily stable. It later headed off toward the airport. A friend of mine also saw it. Engineer Reposini, my neighbor. He agrees with me."

Were there others? It was hard to find out. A blanket of silence draped any further information.

The communiqué from the Argentinean Air Force was laconic. Research is underway. It was necessary to dig deeper, get to the core, find the official word. We already had the image of what the vehicle was like, and its characteristics, maneuverability, and the minute-by-minute reconstruction of its flight path. It was seen, and close at hand. It was heard and not heard. But the stories go beyond that. Did anyone try to stop it? Did it respond to the "green light" call?

AN INTRUDER IN THE AIR

Cornelio Gauna welcomed us. We had traveled 2000 kilometers and interviewed many people, except for him.

"When did the aircraft appear?"

"Last July 23rd," he said, "between 13:15 and 13:35 hours approximately. An "unknown" aircraft flew over this airport, for which I am responsible. Its characteristics did not resemble those of any civilian or military machine operating at this airport to date. It was clearly not a UFO, but a conventional device that avoided detection. It did not fly over the tower or the air station, making it visible from underneath, and it did not answer calls from radiotelephony or visual signals."

He stops and lights a cigarette, and looks outside. He seems to be weighing every word. There’s a file in front of us that keeps the secret. However, Gauna's cordial demeanor banishes all fears. He's there, doing his job. We feel, dear reader, that his words were very sincere.

"When no contact was made with the tower," he continues, looking out at the landscape, "and by flying over the airport, the aircraft had already committed a violation, since any aircraft that flies over the control area of an airport must, necessarily, make radio or visual contact in order to request the corresponding authorization. This is to avoid collisions, informing other aircraft that may be operating in the area, advising them of its location and vice versa."

We asked him about the aircraft. Was it truly a regular airliner?

"By flying so low (70 to 150 meters) at a distance of 5 to 10 km from the runway, its maneuvers could only be seen sideways on. No symbol identifying its nationality could be seen on the fuselage. This identification was also impossible to see as it flew parallel to the runway on its descent, as though making ready to land. But it continued the same route until it vanished into the nearby hills. Subsequently, eyewitnesses claimed having seen it flying over the local air club, which just so happens to be located on the same flight path it was following when it vanished.

Did that airplane ever return?

"Minutes later it reappeared following the same flight path, that is to say, from the West-Northwest, retracing the trajectory it followed when it vanished. It flew parallel to the runway, this time on its left, and near the El Condor ranch. That's where it made a full turn (nearly 360 degrees), very steep, finally vanishing into East-Southeast. It had a narrow body, trapezoidal wings, very broad at the root, with two turbines nearly joined together on both sides of the fuselage, yet not making the typical sound a jet, but rather a nearly-inaudible whistle. It was silver, with its tail section and bow painted black or dark blue. It was rather large, about the size of a DC-6. Those who saw it said it had no windows. That's all we've gathered."

And that's what the Bariloche airport director knows, and what we learned from his words. Now who's responsible for informing?

"The background information of the aforesaid incident is with the Argentinean Air Force Supreme Command, the higher aeronautical body in charge of the case," Gauna said.

So we left, feeling satisfied. We had managed to pierce the veil of silence and have a true image. Eyewitness accounts were abundant and it was possible to make a reconstruction. All that was needed was a final conclusion and descriptions of the device by those who managed to see it.

[...]

The strange machine was intelligently guided, without question. The conclusions are obvious and detailed below:
1) It was highly maneuverable.
2) Able to make 90 and 360 degree turns.
3) Constant low altitude and speed.
4) Jet powered.
5) Speed between 120 and 250 kmh.
6) Height from the ground: 150 to 250 kmh
7) Green light signals were aimed at it. It did not respond. It gave out a white flash (which means "return to your starting point" on the ground, but nothing in the air). It is unknown if this flash was a response or a solar effect.

These characteristics, according to experts, run contrary to the laws of aerodynamics. A jet cannot fly so slow and at that altitude without powerfully increasing the push of its turbines. Otherwise it would fall due to a lack of lift. Add to this the turns it made, which are uncanny for a conventional machine.

What does all of this mean? Evidently, that there is something in the sky watching us, and it will eventually be among us.

--------

Thus ends the investigation carried out by Alejandro Vignati. He interviewed nearly all of the witnesses, including airport administrators, technical and managerial staff alike. However, despite the fact that the viewers of the strange craft argued that it was a commercial airplane, yet one they could not identify, the local press at the time made hay with the sighting.

Hector Anganuzzi's "History of Flying Saucers in Argentina" appeared in 1976 and provided additional details regarding eyewitness statements and the involvement of the Air Force. We learn that in July 1968, Cornelio Gauna (the airport director) reported to Buenos Aires, to the Argentinean Air Force's quarter, in order to provide a report on the event. It even mentions that he was there for an entire week. Following the meeting, in a hastily convened press conference, he said: "All hypotheses suggesting the presence of a UFO must be undermined." He added that a photograph was believed to exist, taken by a tourist from the city of Rosario (we shall examine this claim, as no one ever saw this photo published in the media).

On 17 September 1968, according to Anganuzzi's book, the Air Force issued the following communiqué:

"Based on the investigation performed as result of a fly-over by an unidentified craft in the vicinity of the Airport of San Carlos de Bariloche on June 23, at approximately 13:30 hours, it turns out that this aircraft was a USAF RB-57 operating on a scientific mission from the El Plumerillo base in Mendoza. The aforementioned aircraft's flight constituted a violation of our country's air traffic standards. For this reason, and due to delays in getting to the bottom of the matter, the corresponding measures have been taken."

THE PHOTO THAT WASN’T

As I mentioned earlier, I said that we would return to Gauna’s statement regarding the publication of a photograph.

Luis Eduardo Pacheco, administrator of Rosario Watchers, one of Argentina’s earliest UFO mailing lists, published the photo as the one obtained by a tourist from Rosario, a city of which he is a native.

Researcher Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos of the FOTOCAT site took the photographic document and followed up on case: “At the website of Argentinean researcher Luis Eduardo Pacheco, at a link that is currently unavailable, there is extensive information about it, including the photo of a landed UFO next to the airport’s facilities. Curiously, the event is dated 1974 rather than 1968, and it says that the Argentinean Air Force issued a communiqué on 15 September 1968 reporting “a fly-over by an unidentified aircraft over Bariloche” being due to a Canberra RB-57 belonging to a USAF squadron operating on scientific missions from the El Plumerillo Base…” Regardless of the actual facts and their explanation, my purpose here is to certify that the photograph associated with this event is hoaxed and that it bears no relationship to any sighting at that airport.

In fact, J.P. Gonzalez of the Fundación Anomalia has discovered that the photograph, which has undergone laboratory analysis, corresponds without a doubt with the Avrocar, the saucer-shaped Canadian craft that was tested with little success and scrapped in 1961.

THE STRANGE AIRCRAFT: PART OF A U.S. SUPER-MISSION - Operation Crowflight

On 16 November 1957, General Aramburu made known at 19:40 hours that elections would be held on 23 February 1957 and that the transfer of power would occur on May 1st.
At the end of 12th Aeronautica Week , the ties between La Libertadora and the United States experienced their best moment. Gone was the Perón governments “third position” foreign policy that so troubled the State Department’s interventionist designs. As a sample of this, Decree 4161, Article 1, forbade “the use of images, symbols, signs and expressions that were representative of Peronism, including a list of words among which “third position” could be found.

Those events of November 1957 were the first to become known as State policy. Years before, there had been endless secret “cooperation”.

So it was that following the gigantic display of military might by the Strategic Air Command at Ezeiza Airport, the CIA – under the leadership of John Foster Dulles – managed to get Aramburu to approve the development of “Project Crowflight” in the country. Thus, Argentina was the first nation to offer its territory to the Central Intelligence Agency for use as a strategic aerial espionage base.

On November 11, 1958, three U-2 spy planes reached Ezeiza with all of their civilian and military personnel. Six months later, the secrecy surrounding the U.S. mission was lifted. On 18 March 1959, the first presentation of the Lockheed U-2 “Dragon Lady” was made before the world press.

During the ceremony, Maj. Richard Atkins remarked on “atmospheric research”. Finally, the chief of mission, Col. John Shidal, reported that the flights would last a total of 18 months. The mission would be a joint operation with NASA.

Dr. Arturo Frondizi was elected in February 1958. The “Crowflight” missions continued to be carried out throughout his term, until May 1960. The Clarin newspaper reported on Friday, May 13, that three airplanes had arrived at Ezeiza to continue with Operation Crowflight.

These aircraft were U-2 Dragon Ladies. On May 1st, one had been downed over the USSR and its pilot, Francis Gary Powers, taken prisoner. Tensions between Moscow and Washington reached critical levels. The U.S. espionage scandal over the USSR, using U-2 aircraft, prompted Arturo Frondizi to suspend the Ezeiza-based Operation Crowflight.
As though none of this had happened, a delegation of scientists from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) arrived on May 15, 1960 by “invitation” of the Argentinean War Department. It was presided by Dr. Herbert F. York , and included a group of elite military instructors, advisers and U.S. Army technicians. Herbert York was acting at the time as Director of Research and Defense Engineering, the foremost strategic weapons design office for DOD. Among its physicists was Edward Teller (the “father of the H-Bomb), who would encourage Ronald Reagan to pursue the anti-missile shield known as “Star Wars.”

Only days from the U-2 incident, the U.S had gone to high alert, expecting likely Soviet reprisals. There is no explanation for why the head of the nuclear arsenal should have been giving “lectures” around Buenos Aires, even less that so many Pentagon scientists were with it. There are still fewer explanations as to the delegation of U.S. Army military instructors.

A declassified document from the State Department offers some answers:

a) The operations performed at Ezeiza were “restarted” under a new name.
b) Two new projects would be a continuation of the first one. 1958’s “Crowflight”, whose new approval was granted by the Argentinean government on 26 February 1960. Here we can see that the Aramburu Dictatorship initially approved these operations, and secondly, that they were ratified as soon as Frondizi had assumed office.
c) The two new projects would be carried out of Mendoza’s “El Plumerillo” airport under the names “Quick Dip” and “Skindiver”, respectively.
d) The aircraft would no longer be Lockheed U-2’s but rather, Martin/General Dynamics RB-57F Canberras, belonging to the “58th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron”
e) Given the date (17 September 1965) operations were authorized under the presidency of Arturo Illia.
f) Operation of both projects are ranked as “secret”

Project Quick Dip

The U.S. Taskforce consisted of 34 aircraft, 350 pilots, a mobile control tower, portable radar and a large civilian and military contingent. The “stars” were six giant B-52 bombers. The main craft had been designed to penetrate Soviet airspace for atomic bombing. But a test was necessary, with a demonstration of the Strategic Air Command’s ability to deliver a mortal blow in the event of a nuclear exchange.

The operation was dubbed “Quick Kick” and Buenos Aires was chosen. The enormous strategic bombers were refueled in-flight, proving they could reach Moscow with an atomic reprisal. What was never said is that there had been a fly-over of [Buenos Aires] by several aircraft conveying an arsenal of nuclear weapons.

The spy planes (U2 and RB57AF) participated in “Operation Crowflight” and “Quick Dip”, based at Ezeiza and El Plumerillo, under the guise of NASA operations, from 1958 to 1971.
The operation grew, and in September 1965, a decision was reached to conduct atmospheric sampling in the Mendoza area. Authorization was sought through the embassy to station two RB-57Fs sporadically at El Plumerillo, which would officially take air samples for meteorological research.

This operation was presented as a continuation of “Crowflight”, which was still taking place in Australia at the time.

The idea was to have a couple of those airplanes, based at Kirtland AFB in New Mexico, to fly to Argentina every two weeks, conducting sampling for four or five days between Mendoza and southern Santa Cruz province.

For each flight cycle, ground personnel and equipment was transported from Panama’s Albrook Base, employing USAF planes. The ground equipment included aeronautical, communications and oxygen gear, with a pick-up truck especially outfitted to prepare pilots for high-altitude flights with pressure suits. Tractors for moving the planes, as well as other ground vehicles, formed part of the shipment.

The operation had to be self-sufficient. One of the guidelines was never asking the Argentinean Air Force for assistance only in case of emergencies, but this wasn’t always the case.

The project was highly classified. According to the memorandum submitted to the local embassy, the cover story for the operation would involve radioactive fallout sampling. With the typical hypocrisy found in such documents, it is made clear that “this is the truth, of course”, adding that official reports on the subject would be published every so often, available to the Argentinean authorities if so requested.



Some 25 people reached Mendoza ninety days before the first flight. But once their duties were over, the foreign staff – except for two custodians – was restricted to the vicinity of the flights.

Each airplane had a two-man crew, lodged at hotels in Mendoza. According to the memorandum sent to the embassy, it was expected that their effects would not be go through airport customs.
The Argentinean Air Force was asked for a free hand in all flights (the measurement and link-up flights), whose flight plans were secured according to current guidelines. 2,600 square meters were requested to station aircraft on the base, 465 sq.mt. storage space and 30 sq. mt of office space. Aside from logistical facilities for operating the aircraft (firemen, light maintenance, washing, meteorology) a tax exemption was requested for all matters involved with the operation.

A hangar was installed in the rear of the facility. Some said it was built by them and was used for several purposes later on. Operations continued until 1972, apparently.

(Research work carried out by sociologists Viviana Demaria and José Figueroa)
Declassified document photo: Pablo Luciano Potenze
Date of the investigation: 2010

SOURCE – CEFORA : http://www.cefora.com.ar/modules/news/article.php?storyid=114

[Translation © 2015 Scott Corrales, Institute of Hispanic Ufology (IHU) with thanks to Guillermo Giménez, Planeta UFO and Andrea Pérez Simondini, VISION OVNI/CEFORA]

Argentina: A UFO in General Alvear?

Source: Planeta UFO and El Ciudadano
http://ciudadanodiario.com.ar/ovnis-en-general-alvear/
Date: 12.01.2015

Argentina: A UFO in General Alvear?



The UFO phenomenon has a great presence in the Province of Mendoza. Experts state that several localities in the province are visited frequently by extraterrestrials. Among [these locations] we can highlight Chacras de Coria, Cerro Arco, Porterillos, Uspallata and Malargue. At these locations, sightings of unidentified craft are legion and local residents believe it's not a matter of chance.



It is for this reason that the case of a UFO - flying in mid-afternoon over the department of General Alvear - has become known in recent hours. The sighting took place on November 3 as cyclists took photos of each other on Calle 13 in that sector.



Upon returning to their homes, they discovered - much to their amazement - the photos shown below (Facebook Radio 1). You can draw your own conclusions.



[Translation (c) 2015, S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Guillermo Giménez, Planeta UFO]

Argentina: Air Force Discloses UFO Sighting Cases

Source: Planeta UFO and Fuente: AIM Digital
http://www.aimdigital.com.ar/2015/12/la-fuerza-aerea-develo-casos-de-avistamientos-ovnis/
Date: 8 December 2015

Argentina: Air Force Discloses UFO Sighting Cases

The CEFA (Comission for the Study of Aerospace Phenomena), attached to the Argentinean Air Force (AAF), which looks into the possible causes of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) within Argentinean air space, published the results of cases reported from November 2014 to November 2015. Andrea Perez Simondini, Director of CEFORA, informed AIM that the organization under her care "strives for declassification" and "looks favorably upon the AAF's reply to popular demands regarding reports that reach its offices."

A review of the AAF website showed something new this time. On the website http://www.faa.mil.ar/mision/cefae.html, regularly consulted by AIM, and under the section Commission for the Study of Aerospace Phenomena, Resolution of 2015 Cases ( http://www.faa.mil.ar/mision/informe_cefae_2015.pdf ), the agency noted that "the sightings presented cover the entirety of reports submitted to CEFA through its web page, taking place in 2015, although due to functional and administrative reasons, they span the period corresponding to November 2014-2015."

CEFA explained that their analytical methodology included a combination of several techniques, "depending on whether the object was photgraphed or recorded, from unaided observation, data readout and comparison with what is known [to exist] in the aerospace environment, to a complete analysis of the evidence presented."

When this agency asked about the publication, Pérez Simondini stated that "these are cases reported by people, and those that could be solved were published." Pérez Simondini added that CEFORA, which strives for the declassification of UFO files, "looks favorably upon the AAF's reply to popular demands regarding the numerous reports that reach its offices."

Despite minimal progress, CEFORA hopes that files involving the military, pilots and air traffic controllers - such as the renowned Bariloche Case - will be made known, in keeping with the Gendarmería case, an AIM Digital exclusive which proved that this [police force] displays greater openness when it comes to making available cases involving its own members.

[Translation (c) 2015 S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Guillermo Giménez, Planeta UFO]

Argentina: Raul Baigorri Discusses UFOs in Caleta Olivia

Source: Planeta UFO and El Patagónico
http://www.elpatagonico.com/raul-baigorri-expuso-ovnis-caleta-olivia-n1457798
Date: 8 December 2015

Argentina: Raul Baigorri Discusses UFOs in Caleta Olivia

A meeting of writers took place in Caleta Olivia. The initiative, called "Knowing our own history" (Conociendo nuestra historia) featured writer Raul Baigorri, who discussed the subject of UFOs.

He was invited by author Ernesto Allende and presented his book Misterios Pendientes (Pending Mysteries) and highlighted the considerable amount of public interest. "The book is very timely because it deals with several aspects of unknown paranormal phenomena. It discusses parapsychology, UFOs and esotericism as well."

He remarked that he has researched these subjects specifically in recent years. "All of my cases are documented. I carried out my own investigation because there is much documentation and audiovisual material here." He said that he is about to publish two more books on ufology "having to do with UFOs in Patagonia and the Grey aliens who are here. The other is a book on contemporary research from the 1990s. I finished it in 2000 and I've asked to cross-check a number of hypotheses.

Baigorri explained that the "UFOs over the Gulf of San Jorge" phenomenon is on the rise and that he discussed the subject at the writers' meeting. "We have a sacred geometry here, with given place names, that is to say, areas of power with an energy vortex that favors time-space anomalies, causing UFOs to be regularly detected throughout the Patagonian region."

"The UFO corridor is between Chiloé and Sarmiento, and here we have strategic magnetic poles that foster this activity, such as Cerro Chenque, Punta del Marques, Pico Salamanca, Cerro Mesa, Cerro de las Manos - these are all energy centers," he stressed.

[Translation (c) 2015 S.Corrales, IHU with thanks to Guillermo Giménez, Planeta UFO]

UFOs Over Poland: The Land of High Strangeness

It isn't often that one gets the opportunity to review a book - it's always an honor, especially when it is from an esteemed friend and colleague. Piotr Celebias's UFOs Over Poland: The Land of High Strangeness takes the reader through a journey across the landscape of a country we don't immediately associate with ufology or the paranormal. It is also true that our knowledge of the paranormal in Eastern Europe is limited to a few articles in Flying Saucer Review, Paul Stonehill's work on Soviet-era ufology, Jacques Vallée's "UFO Samisdat" about the Voronezh incident in Russia, and perhaps a few others. Readers can now delve into a book that spans centuries and covers the vast array of the unknown: UFOs, abductions, strange entities and the phenomena that are usually placed into the portmanteau category of high strangeness. UFO researcher Philip Mantle's Flying Disk Press has made this achievement possible, and I urge anyone with an interest to go beyond repetitive cases (particularly one from the '40s)to acquire a copy of Piotr's book. You won't be disappointed.