Source: El Litoral and Planeta UFO (Argentina)
Date: June 2, 2019
Article by Francisco Villagrán for El Litoral
Argentina: The Santa Catalina UFO Case
During the 1970s, 80s and some of the '90s, Corrientes served as the location for numerous UFO cases ranging from sightings to landings and contact incidents. One of the first cases was the Santa Catalina incident, where a strange luminous object was witnessed by an entire family during a night in 1978.
The cold evening of 22 August 1978 would not be just another night in the lives of the Miño family, protagonists of the incredible UFO sighting in the vicinity of Santa Catalina, which at that time was at the end of Bus Line 6, far from what was the city at the time. There was a military base there, headquarters to the Command and Service Brigade, Sanitary Company 7 and Arsenal Company 8, where the bus would turn and head back to the city. There were few hoses in that area and the streets were made of sand, making it hard to traverse them, especially on a bicycle. One had to make an effort to pedal. The city was just expanding and this area was far from contemporary Santa Catalina.
The cold south wind blowing over the region that evening, while not very strong, was enough to entice people to remain indoors, well-dressed and drinking something warm. Ignacio Esteban Miño, the main witness of the surprising event, was 29 years old at the time and was on his way back from his job in the city, where he worked as a martial arts instructor. The time was around 22:00 hours. As he got ready to enter his home, he was surprised to see a strange luminous object of an intense white color moving slowly in the sky, some 200 meter distant, and over the river, as it was near the dwelling. The vehicle was some 6 or 7 meters in diameter, according to his calculations, and made no noise at all. It moved silent through space, allowing the sighting to last some 15 minutes. Startled by what he was seeing, he entered the house and told his family: "Come out quickly, come see this, it's incredible!" His father and sister, who were still awake, went outside, followed by the mother and an aunt, as a result of the ensuing hubbub. All remained silent, contemplating the strange object. It glowed with a powerful white color, waxing and waning in intensity. Throughout the duration of the event, no noise was heard and nearby animals (dogs) remained quiet.
When Ignacio Miño was consulted about the strange experience, he said: "Nothing like it had ever happened to me. I'd never seen anything like it, but this time I could see the object clearly. It was rather close, I figure some 100 meters away, and at no time was I frightened. The object was oval-shaped and as I said, very luminous. It didn't travel very fast and gave the impression that it was inspecting something, looking at something. You ask whether I'd read up on the UFO subject? No, very little. I was only aware of its existence through friends. I do believe there's life elsewhere. As a result of my experience I intend to find out more, as I'd like to know more in this regard. I was lucky not to be alone when I saw it; otherwise no one would believe me. My father, my sister, my mother and an aunt came out for a look. There were five of us. We all saw it perfectly and were astonished by what we saw. From what I heard, no neighbors saw what we had seen. There was no one outside, as it was rather cold with a stiff wind. Not the kind of night you want to be outdoors. In any event, I won't forget this experience. It was incredible."
It should be noted that a week after the Miño family's sighting, a group of fishermen had camped 500 beyond on the banks of the Paraná River, and described a luminous object with similar characteristics flying over the river at low altitude.
This was one of the '70s cases that followed the Cambá Punta case in 1960, the Torrent Case in 1965, as the most important. Many others would come later in the '80s and '90s. Perhaps the most important was the Catamarán Case of 1978, when a group of artists, musicians and chamameceros (popular musicians from Corrientes) gathered at the catamaran at the end of the year, witnessed a UFO fleet over the Paraná River. The Santa Catalina case is significant because it occurred on a cold night, with a clear, cloudless sky, so it was visible without impediment. Furthermore, there was a group of witnesses - five, not many - yet sufficiently lucid to see the same thing and describe it in detail.
As is customary in these cases, eyewitness accounts were taken separately. Each member of the family was interviewed and their stories all matched. They had witnessed an anomalous event that was being considered worldwide as the sighting of an extraterrestrial device, very luminous, with obviously intelligent movements, flying slowly before shifting speed before vanishing at high speed in the dark of the night. Currently, such cases are commonplace, with the advantages given by present technology in photographing and recording sightings as indisputable proof of their existence.
This also marked the beginning of a series of sightings, descents and contacts that began in the Northeast, particularly in Corrientes Province, which had many cases in the two following decades.
[Translation (c)2019 Scott Corrales, IHU with thanks to Francisco Villagrán of El Litoral and Guillermo Giménez of Planeta UFO]