UFOs and Extraterrestrials -Dominican Sightings and Experiences

UFOs and Extraterrestrials -Dominican Sightings and Experiences

Source: Diario Libre (Dominican Republic)

Date: 08.29.2015

An article by Bienvenido Pérez García

There is an undeniable correspondence between the dawn of the aviation era in the early 20th century and the proliferation of sightings of strange craft and objects in the sky. Similarly, the monsters and creatures sighted across North and South America, Europe, and Asia for centuries were—starting in the first third of the 20th century—transformed by the collective imagination into extraterrestrial beings, albeit ones characterized by strange clothing and devices. Far from discrediting the entire body of UFO experiences and alien encounters—which were shaped by shifting perceptions and paradigms following the advent of the airplane and the search for life on other worlds (marking our transition from the magical-religious to the scientific)—this correspondence actually lends greater weight and credibility to verifiable evidence amidst the many false alarms and cases of mistaken identity involving animals or atmospheric phenomena. The availability of ubiquitous digital recording devices—such as cell phones, iPods, and tablets, many offering high-definition clarity—has helped expand the body of evidence suggesting that, barring widespread insanity or stupidity, we do indeed have visitors—and perhaps residents?—from places, times, or dimensions other than our own.

There is an undeniable correspondence between the dawn of the aviation era in the early 20th century and the proliferation of sightings of strange craft and objects in the sky. Similarly, the monsters and creatures sighted across North and South America, Europe, and Asia for centuries were—starting in the first third of the 20th century—transformed by the collective imagination into extraterrestrial beings, albeit ones characterized by strange clothing and devices. Far from discrediting the entire body of UFO experiences and alien encounters—which were shaped by shifting perceptions and paradigms following the advent of the airplane and the search for life on other worlds (marking our transition from the magical-religious to the scientific)—this correspondence actually lends greater weight and credibility to verifiable evidence amidst the many false alarms and cases of mistaken identity involving animals or atmospheric phenomena. The availability of ubiquitous digital recording devices—such as cell phones, iPods, and tablets, many offering high-definition clarity—has helped expand the body of evidence suggesting that, barring widespread insanity or stupidity, we do indeed have visitors—and perhaps residents?—from places, times, or dimensions other than our own.

Investigative journalist and current diplomat Víctor Grimaldi, after living abroad for several years, finally returned to his home country, settling near the La Caleta area, not far from Las Américas Airport. It was 1974 when, one night, he spotted an object—very different from an airplane—crossing the sky at a low altitude; he noticed it descending further in the distance, as if coming in for a landing. Driven by curiosity and accompanied by a neighbor with whom he had become friends, he ventured into the undergrowth, heading toward the spot where they suspected the object might have landed. Caught in the eternal human struggle between the fear of the unknown and the urge to understand it, they moved stealthily through the tall grass, shrubs, and vines until, some distance away, they made out a faint glow. Approaching in silence and keeping low, they peered through the bushes into a clearing where a medium-sized saucer—perhaps five meters in diameter—was parked. If the sight itself was startling, they were even more alarmed to see two small, human-like beings crouching down, occupied with what appeared to be repairs to their vehicle—or perhaps an energy recharge—as they used an object held in their hands to discharge something that emitted light and faint sparks from beneath the craft. Filled with astonishment yet driven by persistence, they watched the beings at work for an estimated thirty minutes before—fearing discovery—they retreated just as stealthily as they had arrived. Two days later, Grimaldi returned—during the day, of course—to the site of the incredible scene; in the clearing, he found the round outline of the saucer, where the vegetation had been flattened and partially scorched. Mr. Grimaldi gave this account years later, under solemn oath to a close friend, as he did not want his experience to go unknown. One incident I mention respectfully—though the details were never fully clarified—occurred after the disappearance of the well-known broadcaster Freddy Miller, an event attributed to a crime, presumably committed by the State. In September 1972, an insurance agent—whom I will identify only by the initial "R."—was traveling through Palenque, in San Cristóbal province, to visit a potential client. By the side of the road, he encountered an unknown figure who stopped him and said, "Hello, I am Freddy Miller; I am here, and I want people to know that I am not dead." Speaking perfect Spanish and dressed in some sort of uniform, the man explained that he had once been just as human as R. but had been rescued by extraterrestrials years earlier while on the verge of drowning during a fishing trip. "In fact, I am accompanying these people who are not from Earth," he said, pointing to two other humanoids dressed like himself—figures with light greenish skin who were watching from a short distance away. "They were the ones who invited me, and I have been with them ever since. We are here now because they are studying and trying to fix a fault deep within the Earth. Look, over on that hill—do you see it?—that’s the ship." In the distance, R. managed to glimpse an ovoid object, partially hidden against the hillside; it was unlike any building or vehicle he had ever seen. The man said goodbye, shook R.’s hand, and said, "I have to go now."

Due to the clandestine nature of their operations, there has been little documentation or publicity regarding sightings reported by illegal travelers on their way to Puerto Rico. During the 1990s, several such travelers—some of whom were detained and repatriated—shared accounts of seeing luminous flying objects at night. These objects performed aerial maneuvers and dizzying movements impossible for conventional airplanes or aircraft—such as instantaneous 90-degree turns or diving straight or diagonally into the water—feats that remain technologically unachievable. An anonymous account from one of the unscrupulous boat captains revealed that on one occasion, while he was crossing the channel in the dark, a saucer-like object emerged from the depths; it violently rocked the boat before shooting up into the sky at incredible speed.

Perhaps not all the strange beings sighted are mere visitors; some may actually be residents. In July 1989—amidst the long daily blackouts in Santo Domingo that forced people to alter their nighttime routines—a woman very close to my family was sitting and resting on the second-floor balcony of her home (located at the corner of Virgilio Díaz Ordóñez and Max Henríquez Ureña streets) after finishing her household chores. She was quietly enjoying the cool night air in the darkness when she heard footsteps on the lawn; someone was trying to cut across the unfenced, open property, heading west from Virgilio Díaz toward Max Henríquez. That in itself would not have been unusual. She noticed the gait of a young man—judging by his appearance from the balcony, he was about nineteen or twenty—until she saw his eyes. Seized by terror, she slid down in her seat to avoid being seen, while the youthful figure—physically normal in every respect except for his eyes, which emitted a reddish glow—continued walking at a steady pace until he disappeared from view down the street. Trembling, she got up, securely bolted the doors, and found it very difficult to fall asleep.

An honorable Christian family, the Buenos, who lived in the Ensanche Ozama neighborhood, had a vivid and unsettling experience involving their teenage sister, Rosa*.

On the night of July 7, 1974, the heat was so unbearable that even fans offered no relief. The eldest brother, Amable—an aspiring engineer—got up, sweating, to get a drink of water in the kitchen. Suddenly, he felt his arm being gripped tightly from behind. He spun around instinctively and violently—what a scare!—only to find his sister Bethania* She had her index finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet, and immediately asked him to follow her to Rosa’s room. In the darkness, as soon as Amable crossed the threshold of his little sister’s room, he noticed—slipping through the slats of the aluminum blinds—not two, but three incredibly fine beams of light. They looked solid enough to touch and ran parallel to one another in a triangular formation, stretching about three meters to the forehead of Rosita, who was fast asleep. Astonished by the three threads of light—one red, the others green and violet—he cautiously crouched down toward the blinds and closed them without waking her, thereby "cutting off" the luminous strands. Rosita slept on, but her siblings found it very hard to close their eyes again that night.

It was late July—perhaps the 29th—when Amable, while asleep, felt an urgent need to wake up. With eyes open and mind alert, she sensed a strange, ominous silence—as if imposed—that stifled all the familiar little noises and sounds of the night. She rose carefully and made her way to the living room; to her surprise, she found her sister Bethania already up, who whispered, "Rosita isn't in her bed."

Seeing that the front door was closed and bolted, they headed toward the back of the house, discovering—even before entering the kitchen—that the door to the patio had been opened. In silence and with apprehension, the siblings slowly approached the doorway until they could peek inside and witness something inexplicable—then and now.

“...We saw it with perfect clarity: Bethania and I stepped through the doorway, and there, about three meters away from us, was Rosita—but... she wasn't on the ground; she was... in mid-air! We witnessed what we later realized was the second half of a 180-degree turn Rosita was performing with her entire body—eyes closed, initially suspended upside down—as she returned to an upright position and settled gently onto the floor right before our eyes.”

Amable recounted this to us years later: “How can I explain what I felt in that moment? Fear, astonishment, a sense of helplessness in the face of something beyond my grasp—something that was happening to my own dear little sister. Bethania just stared at me in silence, her eyes wide with shock, while Rosita, her feet back on the ground, remained asleep. I don’t know how many seconds passed—perhaps a minute or more. When we finally shook off our paralysis, we carefully began to wake her. Rosita seemed incredibly drowsy, as if she wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. We explained that we had found her in the courtyard and told her what had happened—including her defiance of gravity. She listened in silence. When we asked what she had been dreaming about, she confessed that it hadn't felt like a dream; she was receiving lessons—teachings—from other beings, non-human ones.”

“What were they teaching you?” “Well, I remembered them then, but I don’t recall them now,” was her reply.

Unfamiliar or inexplicable as these phenomena may be—seeming to defy physics, common sense, and widely held beliefs—let us continue our existential journey, balancing the necessary routines of daily life while keeping a watchful eye out for  the things we do not yet understand.

(Cr: Diaro Libre, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, with thanks to Bienvenido Pérez García)