Harold Wilkins: A Night of Terror in Costa Rica

 

 

Although subsequent decades were spent tarnishing the good name of British journalist Harold T. Wilkins, his contribution to our understanding of the strange and unusual is worthy of recognition. 

Fifteen years after his death, Wilkins' papers fell into the hands of the organization Contact UK and its newsletter, *The UFO Register*. These documents consisted primarily of the author's unpublished notes, teletype printouts, and handwritten letters from witnesses of the unknown. Among this documentation were letters and messages sent to Wilkins by an Anglo-American photojournalist based in San José, Costa Rica—a man more interested in documenting piracy and treasure-hunting activities on the enigmatic Cocos Island, a subject that had captured Wilkins' attention years earlier and which, in fact, featured prominently in the periodicals of that era. The messages are dated between late 1954 and the spring of 1955—a period coinciding with the major UFO wave sweeping across France and Italy. 

As UFO sightings began to occur within the Central American nation, the material the photojournalist provided to his correspondent in England began to shift in nature, yielding truly astounding information. *The UFO Register* newsletter categorizes this information into two distinct categories: first, UFOs that ignited massive fires in remote jungle regions—primarily upon landing; and second, electrical phenomena, floods, and supernatural storms that locals attributed to a specific UFO that had reportedly settled within the crater of a volcano situated along the Nicaraguan border. Such "incendiary UFOs" have been a recurring element of ufological phenomenology since its inception, with similar cases having been reported in the United States as early as the 1940s. In December 1954, charcoal burners working in the forest claimed to have witnessed the landing of a "spaceship" in an isolated region far removed from any access roads, identifying the Candelaria region on the central plateau as the primary setting. 

Needless to say, the phenomenon sowed panic among the laborers, who initially refused to describe the events. A sphere of fire had touched down in a clearing within the dry forest, triggering a hasty flight. Upon returning days later to retrieve their belongings and tools, they discovered that the area was completely charred. Word spread that the Devil himself had visited the zone and that it was cursed. Forty miles to the south—according to the photojournalist friend of Wilkins—another event occurred, also dated to December 1954. In this instance, charcoal burners stumbled upon a patch of jungle charred in the same manner as in Candelaria, but with a macabre detail: the remains of animals and insects had fused with the vegetation or the very soil beneath them. Even the stones in this area appeared to have melted. In the spring of 1955, a group of explorers from the *Católico Costarricense* ventured into the region to verify the veracity of these claims. They were able to confirm—to their great consternation—that the vegetation had "completely evaporated," a phenomenon that could not be attributed to meteorological events or droughts. The brushwood in the highlands was charred, and vast quantities of earth had been displaced by incalculable forces. The San José-based photojournalist cites the name of Eduardo A. Mendoza—a lieutenant colonel and director of the *Católico Costarricense*—reporting that his expedition traversed the districts of El Tablazo, La Candelaria, and La Carpintera to interview the witnesses, who adamantly refused to speak about the matter, expressing their fear of "the interplanetary craft." 

 Immediately thereafter, the photojournalist appends a transcript obtained from this event—which we reproduce here—sourced from the *UFO Register*: "One of the young men accompanying our intrepid Colonel Mendoza provided further details regarding the expedition's findings after the group split up to explore the mysterious zone. 'You cannot imagine the terror we felt,' the young man recounted, 'as we headed toward the specific spot in La Candelaria where a charcoal burner and his son had witnessed the saucer hovering. Four of our men advanced four kilometers to reach a hill from which an incandescent sphere could be sighted. From that summit, it was possible to discern circular patches where all the vegetation had been carbonized or vaporized by high temperatures of extraterrestrial origin—akin to cosmic rays. The soil within these circles—normally sandy—now bore an intense, dark hue. Upon their return, the expedition members brought back samples of this soil, which is typically sandy. To the group's astonishment, it appeared as though the entire region consisted solely of anthills [...]. The day proved too short to investigate all the areas detailed by the witnesses in..."