Source: El Heraldo de Chihuahua
Date: 4 Feb 2023
Article by Saul Ponce
Mexico: The Meoquí "Dolls"
MEOQUI. Thirty five years have elapsed since the appearance of the "monitos de Meoqui" (monitos - dolls, figures) and the truthfulness of the case is still a matter of debate in the area. While some believe that what occurred at #109 Francisco I. Madero Street in the Barrio Nuevo district was real, others are more skeptical.
It all took place on October 11, 1987 when three local children claimed having seen four creatures "looking like frogs" - one of which allegedly bit one of the children's finger, and who was taken to the Red Cross for treatment. Meoqui would attract domestic and foreign interest as a result of this.
Patricia Hermosillo, a reporter for El Heraldo de Chihuahua at the time, recalls that at 7 o'clock one morning, she received the news that there were alien 'dolls' at Meoqui, and she set out to cover the story.
"And I went to the local police station (in Meoqui), where the late Sergio Montoya was in command, and the deputy prosecutor was Atty. Fernando Herrera Martinez. I had to come and see them for the official version, as there was none. Then I came over and we went to the scene."
The journalist had gone earlier with Dr. Enrique Mata, who told her that one of the 'dolls' had bitten a child and left dust on its finger. Subsequently, Patricia asked Commander Montoya and attorney Herrera to accompany her to the scene, where the latter took a rod and introduced it into one of the holes from which the little men had supposedly emerged. But there was nothing.
The authorities had forgotten about the case, but the next day, townspeople began to fill the streets "like a river", as the news of the event had spread. It happened first in the state, then nationwide, and even in the United States, in such a way that many news media organizations came to Meoqui to cover the story. Patricia's house became a sort of newsroom for reporters who arrived day and night.
"Even an anthropologist showed up, and I waited with him until midnight (at the cave where the 'monitos' were seen) waiting for something to happen, but nothing," she recalled.
Javier Contreras Orozco, who worked as an editor for the Novedades newspaper in 1987 and also covered the story, believed that the events at Meoqui were a "post-truth" rather than "fake news", which represent a falsehood.
Without dismissing the three children who reported the events at first, Javier Contreras noted that the events that took place 35 years ago were a "mass hysteria phenomenon" which became post-truth, that is to say, the alternate of a falsehood.
He also believes that there was "considerable media harassment" and pressure applied on the children involved in the event. This caused them to withdraw and stop discussing the situation, which changed their nature.
Contreras, who was invited to speak on the matter this Thursday in Meoqui, believes this was a mass hysteria phenomenon that broke out spontaneously, giving rise to media interest followed up by Novedades and other news outlets.
Today, as dean of the School of Philosophy and Letters of the Autonomous University of Chihuahua, he notes that the urban legend of the 'dolls' became a landmark for Meoqui, due to its local, national and international impact, something unheard of. "For Meoqui, it marks a before and after, definitely," he concluded.
To Daneira Lira Robles, sister of the late Sergio Alfonso, one of the boys who made contact with the 'dolls', this is the first time in 35 years that she has spoken to reporters about what happened in Meoqui at the time. She claims that a strange light lit the sky the night before the events.
"Many people remember it, because it was seen by many adults. I was 15 at the time, now I'm 50. There were older people, neighbors who saw a light on previous days. We said that it was as if the heavens had turned to daylight when it was night. And that's what we were left with: the fact that we had seen the glow, and then all this began," she disclosed.
After the appearance of the 'dolls', the children went to her because Carlos, one of the witnesses, had been bitten on the thumb by the strange creatures. She took him to the Red Cross to be treated by Paco Valenzuela, a paramedic, who noticed that the boy's thumb was dark and showed scratches.
"Paco kept asking them, tell me what bit him so I can apply an antidote. The children repeated: "He was bitten by a doll! Bitten by a doll!"
Daneira adds that the paramedic separated the children, giving each one a piece of paper so they could draw the 'dolls'. The three, he claimed, drew the same thing, adding that the boys had been going to play with the little men in the backyard of a house located on the corner of Francisco I. Madero and Libertad streets, in the Barrio Nuevo district.
"They would say to us, we're off to play with the dolls, but it could've been Star Wars dolls. They all had Star Wars action figures at the time," she explains.
The house in Barrio Nuevo where the encounter occurred is still standing. Local residents say that visitors still turn up to see the structure. Some of them do it out of sheer curiosity - others hope to see the "dolls" that made Meoqui famous.
[Additional information from the same source]
The "dolls" or elongated creatures resembling frogs were described by some as white; others described them as red and barely 15 centimeters tall. The unusual "visitors" communicated with local children, and it was even said that they came out every afternoon to play with them.
Witnesses to the event said the beings had emerged from "a cave on the ground" during the rainy season, leading them to be mistaken for frogs; however, they walked erect like human beings. It is said that the 'dolls' lived in peace for a while with the local children, until one day, after an argument, a child threw water on one of the creatures. The creature defended itself by leaving a strange burn on the boy's arm. The pain was so intense that the affected child was taken to a clinic. The attending physician said the injury appeared to have been caused by a kind of poison. However, when the boy told his story, the staff was so impressed that they decided to alert media to the events.
The story of the "dolls" went around the world, attracting the attention of UFO researchers worldwide, although the story fell apart in the process, with information being added that has not been corroborated to date.
Some paranormal researchers promoted the idea that the "dolls" were in contact with alien spacecraft, arguing that similar cases had taken place in Colombia, France and Spain.
However, another story noted that the boys witnessed the descent of a huge spacecraft near Meoqui, with bright lights, and from that moment onward, began to be visited by creatures resembling anthropomorphic frogs.
The media phenomenon created such expectation that it saturated newspapers at the time, with the subject of extraterrestrials being a hot property at the time.
There was a point at which dozens of people clustered in the streets of Meoqui, wanting to confirm the existence of these creatures, but it was all in vain. The creatures vanished without a trace, and to many, the story was considered a hoax perpetrated by the children to get attention.
Over time, the subject of alleged aliens was forgotten. However, a rumor emerged in 2007 suggesting the creatures were back.
It is said that 20 years after the initial encounter with the 'dolls', one of the children, now an adult, was visited by a creature that performed unexplained surgical incisions on his body, but left organs intact. He said that he kept seeing them often, but that the beings did not want anyone approaching them, becoming invisible whenever he tried to photograph them. They told him that one day they would take him away with them, and it seems that this was the case.
According to information posted to the Internet, the young man was found dead at his home on April 6, 2007. Doctors and coroners were unable to explain the incredibly precise incisions made on the corpse, and it was said that the blood was contaminated with an unidentified substance.
[Translation (c) 2023 S. Corrales for INEXPLICATA with thanks to El Heraldo de Chihuahua]