Argentina: The First Live Broadcast of a UFO Fleet
By Gustavo Fernández, Al Filo de la Realidad
December 11, 2018
Translation by Scott Corrales, IHU
It is quite possible that many readers will consider this article to be merely anecdotal, and they could be entirely right. But if one (the author) believes that one has gained any right, it would be the one to right freely about a subject and when and why to do so, in the warm hope that the readers’ kindness will keep them from being peevish. This and the fact that the subject is unavoidably self-referential. It is a small literary gratification that I allow myself, perhaps without any further value than serving as a footnote in a third party work.
This is an anecdote I have mentioned on other occasions, but have never given it its own space. The reason for this, if one is required, is a certain degree of perfectionism: the event occurred so long ago that any documented proof I might have been able to adduce has been lost in many moves and changes that mark one’s life. This would cause readers to rely solely on my word, but if I am to be prolix and careful in stating the facts, there would be no trace whatsoever. I can only rely on the memory of any possible listener from those bygone years, and nothing more.
This is when our esteemed friend Marcelo Metayer (*), whom you will remember for his analytical contributions, such as the one cited here, entered the scene. An indefatigable researcher able to pursue a source unhurriedly and ceaselessly until the information is secured, Marcelo was willing to undertake the search for this information and it is thanks to his efforts that I can write more fully here, when I was the protagonist of the first – and to my knowledge, the only “live” radio broadcast of the passing of a UFO fleet over the City of Buenos Aires.
In late 1983, almost coinciding with the arrival of democracy in Argentina, I had gone to work for the old and renowned Radio Splendid broadcasting company in my hometown. I was there for a few years until late 1984 as the “on-the-spot” reporter for the Definitivamente Radio program, hosted by journalist Horacio Frega from Monday to Friday from midnight to 6:00 a.m. I continued to be responsible for live broadcasts and was also a columnist during that time slot. It’s interesting that the subject of UFOs led me there: Frega had summoned me to do a spot on the phenomenon, but as days past, offered to add me to his staff with more general journalistic duties. At the time I worked as a contributor for well-known “yellow journalism” magazines like Flash and Antena, aside from running the newsroom for a “house organ” of the music business.
In the early days of February 1984 (I had been the spot reporter for little over a month), Buenos Aires experienced a strike of long-distance transportation sector employees. It was mid-summer and the interruption of these services was positively chaotic. It was news”. So on Thursday, February 2nd, I took my crew and the mobile radio unit – a journalist named José María Dominguez and a technician whose name I honestly cannot recall. I won’t go into the hassles of that first evening beyond saying that tempers were frayed and there were physical encounters between passengers and employees – one in which we ourselves almost became embroiled.
On the next day – Friday – unabated chaos endured, but the atmosphere was more composed. It was barely past midnight when we found ourselves once again at the core of the events – the Retiro Bus Station – interviewing frustrated tourists, employees and union reps. We were fully engaged in this when it all happened at around 2:50 a.m. Saturday morning.
I left the microphone in the hands of the union representative, who kept talking, opened the rear door of the mobile unit and looked out and upward.
There they were.
There was a perfect “V” formation of eight lenticular objects – clearly biconvex – of a yellowish-green hue, with bright wakes, directly over my head, flying in a North-South direction, crossing the night sky at an average speed. I spun around and swiped the microphone out of the union rep’s hand (I can still remember his stunned expression), jumped out to the street taking care not to become entangled in the mess of wires on the ground, and began shouting out a description of what I was seeing.
It was an outburst, clearly. Dismissal would’ve been the unavoidable consequence, but I was transmitting – unbeknownst to me – the first live sighting of a mass UFO sighting, and what its consequences would be.
The UFO fleet continued traveling southward (even today the area is rather free of structures to allow the line of sight to extend to the horizon) and suddenly one of the objects, the one on the left wing, broke away from the formation and went off to the southeast. I pointed this out, remarking that it was “heading toward Montevideo” (Republic of Uruguay)
There was no Cable TV at the time, and obviously no Internet, and very few FM stations. So insomniacs, night workers and those who didn’t have to rise to go to work had only one option to amuse themselves, and that was to listen to the radio. Splendid was a powerful station, and in fact, had major listenership in Uruguay. My on-air warning caused many people not only in Buenos Aires, but some in Montevideo as well, to go out to their balconies, patios, terraces to witness the objects’ transit.
There were hundreds of people around us who had also been witnesses to this. When the phenomenon and the excitement had simmered down, we tried to compose ourselves and return to the interviewer with the union rep, who remained somewhat frightened and seated where I left him. But that “report” had been irredeemably deflated and we wrapped it up in a few minutes. We were then ordered back to the station.
Days later, Horacio told me people thought I had gone crazy (bear in mind – I had been taken on by radio due to my activities as a UFO researcher) and were going to fire me summarily. But in the time it took us to return to the station, the switchboard had been flooded by euphoric callers, saying they had witnessed the event, which gave me full credibility. No sooner did we arrive, I sat down with the microphone and spent the rest of the early morning hours describing the event over and over.
Given that it was Saturday morning – when newspapers were already rolling off the presses – the local press did not mention the event until Sunday the 5th. I remember that Clarin, La Razón, Crónica and others. La Nacion did too, but in step with its conservative and blue-nosed style, focused on the “astronautical” angle of the event.
Because there was one. Like I see today, there was more of an effort at “intoxication” than “concealment”.
As I said earlier, I mislaid the journalist quotes over the course of years and didn’t have the time – or gave priority – to tracking them down at some distinguished library. Being unable to present them, there was no sense in going into this details of this case, until Marcelo (Metayer) took the time to find two clippings – sufficient for the moment, I will look to securing others – and to reflect upon them. These reflections are obviously mine, not those of my colleague.
I wasn’t alone. All of those who were in Retiro with me agreed on the description: Eight objects in a “V” shape, yellow-green, with phosphorescent wakes, in a North-South direction. One broke away from the group in a N-SE direction. Constant speed and a clearly parallel trajectory (excepting the isolated object).
But La Nación had an interesting tale to tell. It said that NASA, despite being required to do so, had not issued any press release. Contradicting the statements made by Clarín, where NASA “supposedly” reported that the objects were debris from the Westar VI satellite, transported by the space shuttle Challenger (yes, that Challenger) and which had “putatively” disintegrated.
La Nación also mentions sightings in the far-off cities of Santa Fe and Córdoba which were unable to corroborate: an “enormous glow and halo” that had preceded the objects (had this been so, I would not have been able to see it from my initial location, but my colleague was apparently able to, without a word from the circumstantial witnesses). He writes about some “50 objects” although “his” witness – an anonymous writer for that newspaper and his wife – reduced the number to sixteen. This witness notes an “intelligent behavior” in the orderly travel in a group, four in the front as an “arrowhead” and two or three bringing up the rear, the finally another nine, and finally, at some distance, three more – bringing the count to almost 20.
He speaks of a reddish-golden hue with a whitish trail, citing a NW-SSE trajectory.
Clarin also “modified” the information. I use the word “modified” because my statements were changed in spite of being quoted. I had my “fifteen minutes of fame”, if I may say so, and it is all a memory. As I said, I never dwelt on the matter due to the lack of evidence, which I can now present.
¿So what did we see? I am convinced that these were literally unidentified flying objects. The skeptical explanations seem concocted and confusing, and I do not think this is accidental. The formation was precise and the “breakaway” mentioned precludes a group of meteoritic objects or space junk burning up in the atmosphere. As we know, in the case of meteorites in particular, there is a “radiating point” in the sky. If one projects these trajectories retroactively, they disperse form a common point. That was not the case here. Their long trajectory was flown parallel to one another. And that was all. The rest is history: the first live radio broadcast of a UFO fleet.
(*)Marcelo Metayer is a UFO researcher, photographer, and contributor to INEXPLICATA.