Salvador Freixedo: Blackout in Honduras (1978)

 

Salvador Freixedo: Blackout in Honduras

(from his work  LA GRANJA HUMANA (The Human Farm), Editorial Diana)

The events to which this chapter refers took place on October 14 and 27, 1978, in Honduras. On the 14th, a blackout occurred across almost the entire national territory; it lasted 10 minutes in the central region and 25 minutes in the southern region, beginning at 6:10 p.m.

Before presenting the reasons we have for asserting that the blackout was caused by UFOs, we wish to offer a few reflections regarding other famous blackouts. Although the public is generally most familiar with the two celebrated blackouts in New York (largely because that city serves as the headquarters for the world's major news agencies, and anything that happens there very easily attains global notoriety), there have been a great number of equally large and widespread blackouts that are also believed to have been caused by UFOs. Among these, we recall at this moment two in Canada, one very extensive blackout in Texas, two in Argentina, one in Australia, and so on.

It is true that in some of these instances—specifically in New York—photographs were even taken of UFOs flying over the darkened city; this, however, does not appear to have occurred in our case. Nevertheless, the abundance of eyewitness accounts, the concrete nature of the observations made, and the strangeness of certain phenomena attested to by the very engineers at the power plants lead us to the firm conclusion that both blackouts were caused by the concerted actions of several spacecraft of unknown origin.

We have no choice but to omit a significant portion of the extensive material patiently compiled over a period of 15 days by Messrs. Castillo and Medina—as well as numerous eyewitness testimonies—in order to avoid making this chapter excessively long.

Here is the account given by Rogelio Bercian, 24, the advertising coordinator for the newspaper *La Tribuna* in Tegucigalpa:

"It was exactly 6:06 p.m." I was in the vicinity of El Picacho Hill, checking my car, when I spotted a strange object in the distance moving at high speed from south to north. Believing it to be a conventional aircraft, I watched it with astonishment and great scrutiny, as it was traveling very fast and approaching a densely populated area in a dangerously close manner. From where I stood, I had a clear view of the entire city. Suddenly, the object executed an incredibly rapid—almost suicidal—figure-eight maneuver; it was then that I could discern its shape and configuration. It resembled a gigantic "boomerang" or a hang glider, with a very bright light situated at its center. The moment it descended and reached its closest proximity to the city—hovering almost directly over Toncontín Airport—the city’s electrical power immediately failed; I watched as all the lights dimmed until they went out completely. The strange flying object then ascended rapidly into the sky, trailing a "tail" of light that seemed to cling to it, after executing an implausible maneuver and shooting almost vertically upward. At the moment it flew lowest over the city, it was likely at an altitude of about one thousand meters above the southern district. The approximate dimensions of the object I observed were about 25 meters from wingtip to wingtip and about 8 meters in length, though I am unable to estimate its thickness or height.»

This pivotal account could be corroborated—in practically every detail—by numerous other witnesses.

«It was approximately 6:10 PM when I stepped outside to catch the minibus. I observed what appeared to be a star detaching itself from the firmament, subsequently executing a strange maneuver—as if braking during a descent—before suddenly changing course, tracing a sweeping arc, and ascending rapidly until it vanished from sight.» "The moment its descent halted, I observed a flash of light, and immediately the city’s power went out... The object I saw had delta-shaped wings... I can say that it was large..."

Regarding this object, Castillo and Medina gathered even more testimonies; however, the curious thing is that other people, at that very same hour, observed other strange objects in different parts of the city.

"Several objects in the sky shaped like orange spheres, about two meters across, as well as a cylindrical object that vanished while emitting a strange whistling sound." (Luis Silva, 12 years old, and a female friend of his, also 12; both reside in the Torotagua neighborhood.)

It is worth noting that the Torotagua neighborhood is located in the southern part of the city, whereas the accounts provided by the first two witnesses place the sightings in the north—specifically above La Leona, the substation responsible for distributing electricity to Tegucigalpa.

There are yet more testimonies in which other witnesses reported seeing—

"At approximately 5:11 p.m."—other types of UFOs in other sections of the city. One woman (who declined to give her name), along with her four children and a neighbor, observed "two objects moving in tandem at a great altitude; they were silver in color. Subsequently, they separated and took opposite directions.”

Another curious detail—one that aligns with other suspicious blackouts—is that the very next day, “a squadron of UFOs flying at a very high altitude” was sighted; and two days later, a teacher at the Vicente Cáceres Central Institute (who also preferred to remain anonymous) discovered strange marks on the grass at the Institute’s entrance—marks resembling those left by a fan hovering just inches above the ground.

The investigations conducted by Castillo and Medina regarding this initial blackout relied solely on testimonies from the capital; yet, curiously, when they approached the relevant authorities seeking a technical explanation for the outage, they were met with new details regarding “unexplained anomalies” that had occurred far from Tegucigalpa—specifically, at the El Cañaveral generating station. As the reader can observe in the first illustration—drawn by an engineer from the “ENEE” (National Electric Energy Company)—the El Cañaveral plant ceased operations “after a strange glow was observed.”

But that was not all; 200 kilometers from Tegucigalpa, in the country’s southern region, the San Lorenzo and Choluteca stations were also affected. As Engineer Martín Baide—the ENEE’s Head of Public Relations—explained: “We are unable to fully explain how the blackout occurred; for had it originated in the southern Choluteca-San Lorenzo zone, only that specific area should have been affected—it should not have extended all the way to Tegucigalpa, as it did—since the circuit should have disconnected automatically...”

It is also highly noteworthy that, exactly one year prior, several blackouts and malfunctions had occurred—incidents for which, according to Engineer Baide himself, “the cause could never be determined; there were several such events, each of very brief duration, wherein the power would simply return or begin flowing again of its own accord.” This phenomenon is entirely consistent across all mysterious blackouts: the power resumes flowing without the technicians ever knowing how. The summary of this first blackout is as follows: At the precise moment when various types of UFOs were sighted flying over Tegucigalpa—and specifically when one of them dove steeply in the vicinity of the La Leona substation, north of the capital—and at the exact moment when a strange glow was observed at the El Cañaveral generating plant (located far from the capital), a massive blackout occurred. This outage affected the majority of Honduran territory, as well as the León region in neighboring Nicaragua, which is connected to the Honduran power grid.

By way of conclusion, it is worth noting that when Engineer Baide was asked if he saw any possible link between the presence of the UFOs and the blackout, he replied: "Personally, I do not rule out the possibility that technologies superior to those of mankind could be the cause of these anomalies, as we have been unable to satisfactorily explain the true causes of these blackouts."

Let us now examine the details of the blackout that occurred on October 27.

While in the incident on the 14th we observe a fairly direct correlation between the UFOs and the interruption of electrical power, in the incident on the 27th, that correlation appears even stronger. (See Illustrations 1, 2, and 3.)

One of the unique circumstances surrounding this blackout—which lends further credence to a link with the UFO phenomenon—is that, unlike the event on the 14th, it did not occur simultaneously across the various cities it affected. Furthermore, the situation was compounded by the fact that these respective blackouts occurred precisely at the moments when the different cities were being overflown by mysterious, unidentified objects. Let us hear, in Choluteca (200 kilometers south of Tegucigalpa), the testimony of Doña Aída Zúñiga de Oviedo—a 40-year-old woman and director of the Independencia Academy for Female Secretarial Studies:

«Just past 6 o'clock, it began to rain heavily, accompanied initially by electrical discharges... I was in my office when one of the students, named Egdomilia Quiroz, was called by a classmate to come outside and look at something very strange that was emitting flashes of light from within a large cloud. Its appearance resembled a gigantic basin—which, according to the estimates of six young women, was about one hundred meters in length. It was truly impressive. The altitude at which the craft hovered motionless was likely around 800 meters, and one could make out what appeared to be windows running along its perimeter; all the girls became extremely nervous—to the point that two of them nearly succumbed to hysteria, screaming in panic. The craft was partially obscured by a large cloud or mist, yet its shape remained clearly visible; it looked as though vapor were billowing from all around it. One of the girls remarked that it resembled the spacecraft from the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

»It remained stationary in that exact spot for about 10 minutes, making no sound whatsoever; only flashes of light emanated from it—lightning-like bolts—but they were completely silent. Afterward, it began to move and gradually fade away. The electricity was still on at that moment, but just minutes later, all power across Choluteca went out. Some took opposite directions.”

Another curious detail—one that aligns with other suspicious blackouts—is that the very next day, “a squadron of UFOs flying at a very high altitude” was sighted; and two days later, a teacher at the Vicente Cáceres Central Institute (who also preferred to remain anonymous) discovered strange marks on the grass at the Institute’s entrance—marks resembling those left by a fan hovering just inches above the ground.

The investigations conducted by Castillo and Medina regarding this initial blackout relied solely on testimonies from the capital; yet, curiously, when they approached the relevant authorities seeking a technical explanation for the outage, they were met with new details regarding “unexplained anomalies” that had occurred far from Tegucigalpa—specifically, at the El Cañaveral generating station. As the reader can observe in the first illustration—drawn by an engineer from the “ENEE” (National Electric Energy Company)—the El Cañaveral plant ceased operations “after a strange glow was observed.”

But that was not all; 200 kilometers from Tegucigalpa, in the country’s southern region, the San Lorenzo and Choluteca stations were also affected. As Engineer Martín Baide—the ENEE’s Head of Public Relations—explained: “We are unable to fully explain how the blackout occurred; for had it originated in the southern Choluteca-San Lorenzo zone, only that specific area should have been affected—it should not have extended all the way to Tegucigalpa, as it did—since the circuit should have disconnected automatically...”

It is also highly noteworthy that, exactly one year prior, several blackouts and malfunctions had occurred—incidents for which, according to Engineer Baide himself, “the cause could never be determined; there were several such events, each of very brief duration, wherein the power would simply return or begin flowing again of its own accord.” This phenomenon is entirely consistent across all mysterious blackouts: the power resumes flowing without the technicians ever knowing how. The summary of this first blackout is as follows: At the precise moment when various types of UFOs were sighted flying over Tegucigalpa—and specifically when one of them dove steeply in the vicinity of the La Leona substation, north of the capital—and at the exact moment when a strange glow was observed at the El Cañaveral generating plant (located far from the capital), a massive blackout occurred. This outage affected the majority of Honduran territory, as well as the León region in neighboring Nicaragua, which is connected to the Honduran power grid.

By way of conclusion, it is worth noting that when Engineer Baide was asked if he saw any possible link between the presence of the UFOs and the blackout, he replied: "Personally, I do not rule out the possibility that technologies superior to those of mankind could be the cause of these anomalies, as we have been unable to satisfactorily explain the true causes of these blackouts."

Let us now examine the details of the blackout that occurred on October 27.

While in the incident on the 14th we observe a fairly direct correlation between the UFOs and the interruption of electrical power, in the incident on the 27th, that correlation appears even stronger. (See Illustrations 1, 2, and 3.)

One of the unique circumstances surrounding this blackout—which lends further credence to a link with the UFO phenomenon—is that, unlike the event on the 14th, it did not occur simultaneously across the various cities it affected. Furthermore, the situation was compounded by the fact that these respective blackouts occurred precisely at the moments when the different cities were being overflown by mysterious, unidentified objects. Let us hear, in Choluteca (200 kilometers south of Tegucigalpa), the testimony of Doña Aída Zúñiga de Oviedo—a 40-year-old woman and director of the Independencia Academy for Female Secretarial Studies:

«Just past 6 o'clock, it began to rain heavily, accompanied initially by electrical discharges... I was in my office when one of the students, named Egdomilia Quiroz, was called by a classmate to come outside and look at something very strange that was emitting flashes of light from within a large cloud. Its appearance resembled a gigantic basin—which, according to the estimates of six young women, was about one hundred meters in length. It was truly impressive. The altitude at which the craft hovered motionless was likely around 800 meters, and one could make out what appeared to be windows running along its perimeter; all the girls became extremely nervous—to the point that two of them nearly succumbed to hysteria, screaming in panic. The craft was partially obscured by a large cloud or mist, yet its shape remained clearly visible; it looked as though vapor were billowing from all around it. One of the girls remarked that it resembled the spacecraft from the movie *Close Encounters of the Third Kind*.

»It remained stationary in that exact spot for about 10 minutes, making no sound whatsoever; only flashes of light emanated from it—lightning-like bolts—but they were completely silent. Afterward, it began to move and gradually fade away. The electricity was still on at that moment, but just minutes later, all power across Choluteca went out. Some at La Leona. Here is what Mrs. Donatila Hernández de Elvir—a 40-year-old housewife—recounted:

"It was 8:10, and I was in the kitchen, when suddenly I saw a very strange glow that flooded the entire room; immediately afterward, I heard an explosion just as the electricity went out. I immediately peered out the window facing the La Leona station, and imagine my surprise when I saw a strange object hovering motionless above the mango tree—about a meter above it. It was one meter thick and two meters long, and its shape was peculiar in appearance, as long metallic tendrils spun around the object, emitting shimmering glints of various colors. However, what appeared to be a dome remained stationary; only the tendrils were rotating. The object glowed so intensely that I could not bear to look directly at it; I then screamed as loud as I could, terrified by that 'thing.' Something else very strange happened, too: the moment the violet light flooded the kitchen, a strange humming sound began—a sound that lingered in the room for several seconds... The violet color seemed to 'cling' to the kitchen walls until it finally faded away..."

Elisabeth—Donatila’s 17-year-old daughter—was in an even better position to witness the incident; for when the UFO approached the mango tree following the explosion, she was standing only about seven meters away from it. She provided practically the same details as her mother, though Elisabeth had spotted the UFO the moment it first appeared, glowing brightly on the nearby horizon. "The light was so powerful—and such an intense shade of blue—that it blinded me. I turned my face away and covered it with my hands, convinced I was going blind." In fact, she remained unable to see for several minutes and subsequently suffered a bout of hysteria and severe anxiety that lasted two days, accompanied by migraines and physical malaise. 

Those who claim that "there is no concrete evidence of UFOs" and that it is all merely a figment of the imagination do so because they are unaware of cases such as this one—instances where dozens of witnesses from all walks of life unanimously affirm and describe the very same event: a highly concrete occurrence, specifically, a power outage affecting an entire city.

As for the argument that witness testimony does not constitute "proof," this may hold true within the strictly scientific realm—though even this point is open to debate, given that the ultimate and definitive witnesses to the readings of laboratory instruments are, in fact, the senses of the individuals operating and verifying them. Nevertheless, such accounts do indeed constitute authentic "proof" in a human sense. Judges in a court of law hand down convictions or acquittals based on "evidence"—or testimony—that is, on many occasions, neither as abundant nor as consistent as the accounts surrounding the blackouts in Honduras.