Antonio Ribera: Cuba - Classic UFO Sightings

 

CUBA:Classic UFO Sightings

By Antonio Ribera

In Cuba—the "Pearl of the Antilles"—there have been recorded sightings of unidentified objects. In an article published in *UFOs Around the World* titled "Flying Saucers over Cuba," Henry R. Gallart describes two sightings he witnessed in his native Cuba.

He made the first sighting near the town of Caney, in Oriente Province, during January 1960. The UFO first appeared near the foothills of the Sierra Maestra mountain range around 7:45 PM. Gallart was speaking with some soldiers camped on his property. Suddenly, everyone's attention was drawn to what appeared to be a large fireball, which silently crossed in front of them at an altitude of about 750 meters. Visibility was excellent on that dark, starry night. The UFO left a very distinct trail composed of multicolored sparks. The witnesses were located at an elevation of 150 to 180 meters above sea level.

Gallart made his second sighting over the old Texaco oil refinery, where he was employed at the time. This refinery is located on the shores of Santiago de Cuba Bay. The sighting occurred in early May 1961, at 10:45 AM. The object hovered in the sky, swaying slightly with a "dead leaf" motion. From his vantage point, the object appeared to the witness to be shaped like a rugby ball and metallic in nature, although he could not say so with certainty.

After observing the object for 15 minutes, the witness returned to his work. Later, he was told that the UFO suddenly accelerated and vanished in the blink of an eye. Besides Gallart, all the company's office staff saw the object.

But ten years earlier—specifically on March 16, 1950—the EFE news agency released a report from Havana stating that Captain Miguel Murciano, of the Cubana Aviation Company, had announced the tracking of a "flying saucer" seen over the Antilla airport in eastern Cuba.

He stated that the strange, brilliant object was moving westward at extraordinary speed and at an altitude well above 5,000 feet, registering a displacement of eight degrees over 16 minutes as measured by a theodolite. Murciano said he first spotted it while flying from Santiago de Cuba to Antilla at 10:15 a.m. He added that all the crew members and passengers saw the object during a period of exceptional visibility, unanimously agreeing that it was not an airplane. (Cr: Platillos Volantes en Iberoamérica y España, Antonio Ribera, 1968)