Source: Prensa Libre
Date: 05.01.2022
Article by Alejandro Ortiz
Guatemala: The 1970s – A Decade of Extraterrestrial Events
in Guatemala and South America
During the 1970s there were several news items about such
events in Guatemala and South American nations such as Perú, Venezuela and
Argentina. A survey of periodicals collections has yielded several accounts and
news events from those days.
One such news story from 50 years ago, in September 1972,
dealt with Eduardo Mendoza, an electronics expert who claimed to be the only
person authorized by APRO (Aerial Phenomena Research Organization) to
investigate the UFO phenomenon and to cover the Guatemala region in all matters
concerning unidentified flying objects.
Mendoza told Prensa Libre that there were traces of the
alien presence in such places as Salamá, Flores, Escuintla, Quetzaltenango and
the race track in the capital city’s northern area.
Mendoza also said that a resident of Atitlán had seen and
photographed a flying saucer in that locality. According to the story in Prensa
Libre, the Amatitlán resident had advised APRO of the alleged abduction of a
Guatemalan woman by “beings from another world.” He added that there were
photographs in existence which showed flying saucers over the Pacaya and San
José Pinula volcanoes.
In another article published in January 1972 by Prensa
Libre, the story of a young man named Rolando Castillo Valenzuela, a resident
of Zone 1 in the capital area, became known. He had witnessed flying saucers
from his own terrace while in the company of his children.
The story goes on to add that by then, Castillo had already
experienced “unusual communication with alleged beings from other worlds” who
advised him of their visits to Guatemala and “their peaceful intentions toward
beings on Earth.”
The young man explained that the aliens told him that they could
not land on Earth very often “or for an indefinite period of time, as there was
a microorganism in Earth’s atmosphere” which had been developed and put their
lives in jeopardy. For this reason, “they could only land for a few minutes to
insure their own safety”.
In the 1970s, much the same as in Guatemala, but more “explicitly”,
unusual events became known in South America.
Most notable among these is an article from July 1971 saying
how the remains of a UFO had fallen on the slopes of a mountain in Perú,
producing “a tremendous report in a seventy kilometer radius.”
There was also a story from Perú saying that a couple had “witnessed
the descent of two crewmen from a UFO”. According to this story from 1976, the
Peruvians were patted on the back by the beings, who later disappeared.
“They were human-looking. They had two powerful lanterns
which they used to blind us and curtail our vision,” said Leoncio Jara Torres,
55 years old at the time, to an international news agency.
Venezuela has also recorded similar happenings by peasants
who claimed having seen extraterrestrial beings standing “two meters tall,
wearing a sort of dark belt and blue goggles.”
Moreover, Argentina also yielded stories related to this
phenomenon. A 28-year-old railroad worker told international news agencies that
he had been “paralyzed by a beam” that had kept him from screaming but still “allowed
him to see.” At that moment, he felt as though he was being absorbed into “a
sphere without furniture and with walls seemingly made of plastic.”
[Translation © 2023 INEXPLICATA with thanks to Alejandro
Ortiz and Prensa Libre]