Argentina: "The South is Being Visited by UFOs"
By Andrea Pérez Simondini, Visión OVNI & CEFORA
We have a story to tell you. The newspapers have startled us today with a multiple sighting in the Punta Loyola, Santa Cruz (Argentina) area. It seems that the south has been surprising us with a series of observations which, we could say, require profound investigation.
First, there was the 17 February sighting of a UFO intercepting the descent maneuvers of a private air ambulance flight in Rio Grande, reported by a renowned tour operator of the area, who was an "earwitness" to the communications between the pilot and the control tower, which resulted in a report field at the ANAC Flight Plan Office. This case is under investigation.
On March 6, Tiempo Sur, the Rio Gallegos newspaper, published "Fishermen Report Sightings in Punta Loyola", and we learned of the maneuvers of a least two objects in this coastal region of Argentinean Patagonia. The article can be seen at http://www.tiemposur.com.ar/nota/1045 ... tamientos-en-punta-loyola. Researcher Daniela Ciancia published more about this case in her Patagonia OVNI website (www.patagoniaovni.blogspot.com), providing the detail that the cases were reported to the U.S.-based MUFON organization. The MUFON publication has noted the cases under the numerical heading CASE 74954 and CASE 74966.
Report 74954 mentions lights seen from the route where the coal deposits were located. Witnesses headed outside and saw the lights for 40 minutes. The objects moved very quickly and had an electric blue color, according to their description. They report having not felt the least bit of fear. The lights turned off and headed south at high speed, rising and descending.
Report 74966. Several fishermen were near the Punta Loyola pier, not far from the city of Rio Gallegos. They saw two lights moving quickly, making tight curves in the air. First they were over the cliffs, facing the shore, beyond Isla Deseada. Then they moved across from the cliffs to engage in up-and-down movements again. They rose and headed south, where a ship that ran aground is located. There were two other fishermen and another person on the road, recording it all with a cellphone. We spoke [with them] later on and were able to watch the video. The lights came through clearly.
The witness says he is a fisherman and has seen lights on other occasions, but never so close to the piers or the fishermen's huts. The eyewitness reports that a friend of his, who was out fishing with his own family, wound up hospitalized due to hypertension. The man, however, told the witness he hadn't seen a thing.
The witness wanted to file a report with the prefecture, but there was no one on duty at the time. During the week, he spoke to other fishermen and was told that "some men" had been asking about the lights and spoken to the man who had recorded them with the cellphone. This witness remarked that he hoped [the lights] don't scare off the fish, because they'll be left without a livelihood.
A New Story is Born
On 27 February, a surprising e-mail arrives at Vision Ovni. As in all cases, the outcome of the reading involves a series of procedures, among them the evaluation system used by CRIDOVNI, which determines a level of reliability, and yields an outcome that classifies the witness as an "8", the case is a "Level B" and the weighted unconventionality (NC) is 98%.
In the light of this, formal contact was made with the witness over e-mail to examine the facts. The e-mail received is in itself stunning, and a calm approach is the best course to follow.
We shall only publish the first of some 15 e-mails, keeping the witness's name confidential along with any identifying details.
E-MAIL RECEIVED:
1st E-mail.
Ms. Andrea Simondini. My name is (xx) and I live in Rio. I am (xx years old) and am married. My husband and I have two sons, 19 and 24 respectively. I never believed in UFOs or weird things.
Something happened to us on 26 February 2016 when we were in the wilderness known at Punta Loyola near Rio Gallegos, by the seaside.
Taking advantage of the last few days before the beginning of school, we usually go fishing with my husband and children. While they fish, I wait in the car preparing "mate". The weather has been very unsettled these days, with passing showers, some wind and cold, but we tried our luck fishing after noon since there were moments of sunshine. We were several kilometers south of the ship that ran aground on Punta Loyola. There were several vehicles near the ship.
It was about 2:30 pm. My husband and sons took a break from fishing and we sat in the car to drink "mate" and eat cakes. The car was point to the sea.
At a given moment, one of my sons said that he could see a small light in the sky with a very intense blue color, as though it was electric, heading toward the coast at low altitude and over the coastline.
At a distance of 500 meters, as we figured, the light began rising in a very steep angle and headed toward our right, southward, becoming lost near a cluster of clouds.
We waited to see if it appeared on the opposite side, but were surprised to see it falling in a nosedive some 800 meters from our position, toward the south and on the coastline.
It fell swiftly, but before hitting the ground, it made a dull whistling sound, followed by a metallic impact noise, but with a hollow quality.
My husband got in the car, we left the fishing rods in the sea where the lines were, and told us to come and take a look.
When we reached the site, my husband got out first and then called us. We left the car some 50 meters away.
There's a rocky area on the beach where it fell. There was a funnel-like shape made of stones measuring some 3 meters in diameter by 1 meter wide. At its center was a sphere no greater than a soccer ball. Its surface seemed metallic and it emitted a bluish glow.
We saw no markings or lights. The glow appeared to issue from the surface itself. The sphere was completely still and we could feel a slight buzzing and light snap every so often. My youngest wanted to grab it, but we didn't let him. We looked at it somewhat further away from the funnel of stones that had formed.
My husband wanted to photograph it with the cellphone, but there was no battery charge. When I tried to turn on my cellphone, it turned on correctly but the battery was suddenly drained. My son had a tablet computer in the car which he had charged before heading out. He turned it on in the car, but when he tried to bring closer to the site, it too was drained.
At that point we thought this could be something harmful. My husband said that it could be radioactive and we decided to leave. My son threw a pebble against the sphere which oddly enough, didn't hit it and was shunted aside. That scared us a lot.
When we got in the car, my husband noticed that his mechanical wristwatch had stopped.
We went to the Prefecture station that is near the deep water pier but there was no one there. When we got out of the car, someone approached us and asked if we had seen the blue lights. We said no.
We then headed toward Rio Gallegos and phoned the Police 101 number. The party answering the call told us it might be best to call the Air Force, and we tried it several times until someone answered, telling us it was too late and there wouldn’t be anyone in until Monday.
I then began sending out e-mails to people involved in the UFO subject in Patagonia but I only received an automatic reply from one of them, and no one else.
My youngest son wanted us to alert the media, but we decided against it to avoid ridicule.
I read that you have a group called CEFORA and that you have people all over the country. Would you have someone nearby interested in the subject?
Thanks for your attention; I would appreciate hearing from you if you have the time."
The reply didn't take long at all, and pursuant to the situation described in the body of the e-mail, I asked them to return to the area to see if the object was still there.
In the meantime, I got in touch with the authorities to set up a communication channel in the area. However, I was unable to exert much pressure in this regard. While the story was shocking, the information was scarce and surely questionable.
The response to my mail was finally not with the sense of urgency that the requestor had demanded. This made me question the situation, but also made me feel concerned. If the story was true and these people were in contact with this "odd" object, I immediately thought about health issues and strange people who may have come into contact with them. In short, myriad possibilities emerge from these situations.
Unboxing the First e-Mail
We quickly set up a data sheet for the case.
Date: 26 February 2016
Time: 14:30 hours
Witnesses: (XX) 58 / Sons (19) and (24), Husband.
Location: Punta Loyola, Rio Gallegos, Santa Cruz, Argentina. Punta Loyola is a port of the Guer Aike Department.
At first, the witness makes clear that she never believed in UFOs or strange things. The situation came about during a family fishing outing at the coast. It is highly descriptive with regard to the actions prior to the sighting, the weather conditions and movement at the site. Faced with the apparition of the object, seen by the youngest son, the descriptions of distances and directions are very precise, along with detailed descriptions about the sighting. For example: "Some 500 meters, we figured, the object began rising in a steep angle and veered to our right, southward, and vanishing into a group of clouds." The description of the "crash site" is also very precise. The identification of sounds, sizes, physical reactions, etc. gives us a clear idea of what happened.
However, exact details began to dwindle when it comes to reporting the case. Mention is made of a visit to a vacant Prefecture station. Then they went home and phoned 101, are directed to the Air Force, where after several attempts they're told to call back on Monday (bear in mind that the day of the events was a Friday).
Faced with these circumstances, they started sending out e-mails, according to the following paragraph: "I then began sending out e-mails to people involved in the UFO subject in Patagonia but I only received an automatic reply from one of them, and no one else."
I checked with Daniela Ciancia, a researcher and member of CEFORA, manager and Director of the Patagonia Ovni blog (www.patagoniaovni.blogspot.com) asking if she was aware of the case, which was negative. Another phrase I did not overlook was the son's desire to contact the media, denied by his parents. That gives rise to her contact with me through the CEFORA website.
The Answers Arrive
A reply was received 48 hours, short and sweet. She thanked me for replying, remarking that some things had happened that she would tell me later on. The e-mail message made me understand that not only had some things occurred, but that someone was behind these people. The brevity and distance from the initial urgency gave me pause. I was also concerned about the health of these people and said as much in my next message. My own reply was just as curt, mentioning a visit to the area:
Hi (XX), your message left me feeling concerned. Are you all OK?
Well, I'll wait for your reply. I'm looking forward to discussing a visit to the site with you.
Regards, Andrea.
At this point, I had already contacted researchers like Carlos Iurchuk and Daniela Ciancia herself (being the one closest to the scene) in order to place a person in the area and try to understand the relevant points of the story. I also spoke with the Air Force about preparing a search for the object, among the primary tasks. Due to the lack of authentication, I did not try to force their involvement.
To date, we have been unable to confirm the location of the event, as described by the witness.
Following messages gave me much more information and even more concern. To make a long story short, says the witness, one of her sons wound up in the hospital on Saturday night. The young man was diagnosed with encephalitis (an inflammation generally due to a viral infection).
At 3 am on Sunday, a group of people consisting of a team leader, a doctor, an orderly, a photographer/videographer, a thermographic gear operator and several field researchers turned up at the witnesses' home. It should be noted that there was a person claiming to be an expert in several fields, who contacted the witnesses by phone but was never present.
All of these people were dressed from head to toe in white coveralls. This operation lasted from 3 am to 5 am on Sunday, 28 February. The individuals had already removed the sphere from the impact site and told the witnesses that they had experience in dealing with such cases. The witnesses gave me much more information that will be kept in reserve out of a concern for their safety and the progress of the investigation.
If I am asked whether the case is true, I would like to say yes, but I cannot. I can tell you that my inner voice tells me it’s a case that must be followed closely. What leads me to say this? The evidence.
There are many reports for the same day from multiple sources. Could this be a confabulation by a single person, using various media? It could be. The MUFON reports lead us to take notice of the situation and examine the matter closely. The journalistic story in Diario Tiempo Sur tells us that it shares the same source as the one published in MUFON. We are surprised that no Argentinean organizations are mentioned.
The witness states that she is not lying, and became very upset when I stated my doubts and requested more detailed information.
We cannot ascertain where those people came from or the organization they represent. The fact is that they claimed not to represent the government, but an international organization that does not publish its cases.
If the case is true, and caused health issues for the family, with precedents on record that show even worse consequences for personal health, why didn't these investigators, who showed up with many resources and strict research protocols, also alert the general population and the authorities about the hazards faced in these situations? Like I said at the beginning of this article, I was going to tell you a story. What I didn't say is how it would end. Clearly, we do not know it will turn out.
The Photographs:
[Translation (c) 2016 S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Andrea and Silvia Pérez Simondini (Vision Ovni/CEFORA) and Guillermo Giménez (Planeta UFO)]