Noel Rigau: A Close Encounter at El Yunque (Puerto Rico)

 Puerto Rico: A Close Encounter at El Yunque (Caribbean National Rainforest)

By Noel E. Rigau 

On Saturday, October 20, at approximately 6:00 p.m., a group of nine people arrived at a trail leading to the summit of El Yunque—a mountain about 1,065 meters high—with the specific intention of observing UFOs, should any appear. The group consisted of Heriberto Ramos (an engineer), Juan Jiménez (a commercial pilot), his brother Luis Jiménez, a university student named Efraín Arroyo, and a high school teacher accompanied by four of his students; all of them preferred to remain anonymous. The group was equipped with a camera and infrared film, flashlights, and signaling devices (possibly flares), as well as food and camping gear. While ascending the trail toward the summit of El Yunque, they crossed paths with three young women and a young man coming down the same route; this smaller group had only one flashlight among them. The members of the expedition found it quite strange that one individual from this other group asked for directions to the main road, given that it was beginning to get dark and there were no other vehicles parked at the trailhead—only their own. According to José Jiménez, the three young women were very attractive, resembled one another, and were dressed identically: in blue trousers and red sweaters. All these details were confirmed by Efraín Arroyo during an in-depth interview we conducted with him on November 9, 1973.

Around midnight, one of the expedition members remarked to his companions that he felt as though something—or someone—was watching them. Then, they heard a sound, prompting Juan Jiménez to begin taking infrared photographs in near-total darkness, pointing his camera toward the direction from which the noise seemed to originate. They then approached the site and, by the light of a flashlight, observed deep footprints in the flattened grass, as well as some broken branches. Shortly thereafter, Heriberto Ramos and Efraín Arroyo separated from the main group and descended the mountainside. In the dim light—occasionally illuminated by the moon peeking through the clouds—they spotted four beings coming down a narrow path. "We could only make out shadows, silhouettes moving back and forth across the path in a zigzag pattern..." One of them appeared to be the leader; they advanced a bit further and then stopped. "We proceeded with great caution, not knowing what we might encounter. The creature in the lead seemed to be holding a small device—perhaps electronic—that emitted green, blue, and red lights; it was moving it up and down. It wasn't a light source, but rather something... that featured these little lights." They could hear the noise the beings made as they brushed against the trees. By then, they were much closer. At that moment, one of their companions, who was following behind, shone his flashlight on one of the creatures. They immediately moved away. Arroyo notes that this was the closest they ever got to these strange beings. In that instant, they felt an unusual sense of calm—something they had never experienced before. They repeated the process, approaching the creatures, which, in turn, moved away once again.

Throughout the rest of the night, the group kept a constant watch. At 5:30 a.m., they began their descent from El Yunque and discovered that the entire trail down the mountain was covered in footprints much larger than those of a normal-sized human foot. These tracks not only extended across the terrain on both sides of the road, but were also accompanied by other, smaller types of marks. Furthermore, the branches of nearby bushes were broken—in some cases, completely severed from the plants to which they belonged. The tracks led all the way to where the vehicles were parked.

It was estimated that the minimum distance between the creatures and the witnesses was between 15 and 20 feet (approximately 4.5 to 6 meters). Details could only be discerned when the creatures were illuminated by a flashlight. According to the eyewitness accounts: "There were four creatures, between 5 and 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 meters) tall, with long arms. We didn't see their hands, but we got the impression that they were large." When illuminated, "we observed a creature with large eyes, a nose, pointed ears, and horns—though not all of us agreed on this last point." Their movements were rapid, "almost like leaps; it felt as though they might have been grabbing onto tree branches to vault from one side of the road to the other. A great deal of pressure must have been exerted to leave such tracks; our own shoe heels barely left any mark at all."

Upon returning to their respective homes, commercial pilot Juan Jiménez took his infrared film with him. On October 21, while sitting on the balcony of her home with a neighbor, Jiménez’s mother was able to... ...hearing "a strange movement, as if someone were tampering with the film or pulling out the reel." A neighbor also heard this sound, which frightened both women. In fact, they fled the house and did not return until the rest of the family came back a few hours later.

The following day, Efraín Arroyo took the film from his home to a commercial laboratory to be developed. That same night, his parents heard strange noises: "The floorboards seemed to move on their own; we heard thuds on the roof and something that sounded like a bell. Suddenly, an electric fan rolled across the floor." According to Arroyo, the strange noises—which we are inclined to believe may have been the result of *poltergeist* activity—ceased after a few days. The infrared film was developed, but yielded no significant results; consequently, it was discarded shortly thereafter.

Other witnesses to the mysterious events in El Yunque reported having terrifying nightmares shortly afterward—among them, a student who chose to remain anonymous. He claimed to have seen an apparition: a creature that told him he would forget everything that had happened. Following an exhaustive investigation, the case received extensive media coverage, largely because the witnesses were serious, highly respected individuals within their social circles.

(Cr: Awareness, Summer 1974)