Source: FAO / ICOU
Date: April 21, 2021
YO FUI TESTIGO ("I Was a Witness")
Episode 11 - Pursued by a Probe
By Roberto Oscar Appendino
"First and foremost, good afternoon. My name is Roberto Oscar Appendino; I'm from Bolsón and a member of FAO Patagonia as well as ICOU Patagonia. I'm honored to be able to tell you about the experience I had involving the UFO phenomenon.
"Well, my experience, the first one was in 1984 or 1985 more or less in Santa Rosa, La Pampa, from where I had traveled with my mother to Bahia Blanca. I was small; I'd gone with my mother to Bahia Blanca. On the way back, eh, we were on the road in two separate buses, belong to the Tesmara company, as I recall, and at one point, as we were on the road, the bus driver, eh, asked us to look at the countryside, which would've been on the right hand side, because a bluish-green light was following us.
"Well, those of us who were awake - because the time must have been two or three in the morning - all of those of us who were awake indeed saw a strange light, a bluish-green one, with bright flashes. The microbus stopped, those of us who were awake stepped outside, other passengers woke up, others did not. The other microbus following us also stopped, as it had been observing the same thing as us.
"This object oscillated from left to right, level with the fields. I calculate that it must have been five or seven meters over the surface. Well...it oscillated from left to right, came over a bit closer to the road, something that frightened a few of the onlookers, as you can imagine. Well, in a matter of seconds it emitted a powerful flash that blinded us, and the object took off upward at such a speed that made further observation impossible.
"Eh, that was in 1985 - 1985 indeed - the fact is that I was greatly impressed by the sighting, given that I was already interested in the UFO phenomenon. I was watching TV series, Star Trek, well, you can imagine, a ton of series of this sort. This led me to tell my experience to Quique Mario, who was a family friend. He heard me out; I went to see several of his programs about the subjects he discussed, which set me on the path to becoming a researcher. A UFO researcher.
"Obviously, he guided me with his considerable experience, which led me deeper and deeper into the subject to this very day. Over the years I've come to see many things, I've managed to make some progress in my knowledge of the phenomenon and of course, I have long way to go. I figure that the years will go on and on and we will never get to the bottom of it. New things will keep emerging about the phenomenon that remain a mystery to us today.
"But my purpose is to get to the truth, and make known all the information of events here in our area, in Bolsón and well, other places in Patagonia, continuously reporting events as they take place. So (coughs) that was my experience, the very first experience I had with the phenomenon, and as I said earlier, one that led me to become a researcher and gain more knowledge.
"Here in Patagonia we have formed the RIO group with Roberto Pollola and Celeste Leguizamón, and we are now dedicated to the FAO Patagonia group, and will continue on the path of reporting the truth of all the events that take place in our area. We will follow the guidelines of those who take the UFO phenomenon as a serious matter. No commercialism or anything of the sort. Serious research as it ought to be conducted, that is our purpose.
"Best regards to all and let us not stray from the path, as this is the proper one."
[Translation (c) 2021 Scott Corrales, Institute of Hispanic Ufology with thanks to Luis Burgos, FAO/ICOU]