Friday, April 30, 2010

Translated Foreword to Agostinelli's INVASORES








Alejandro Agostinelli is sharing the English translation of the foreword by Daniel Riera to his recent book INVASORES (Invaders, which we reviewed here only a few months ago. See also our review at Amazon.com)with readers of INEXPLICATA. Miracles do happen, and this worthy book may yet find its way to a publisher interested in a U.S./U.K./AU/NZ edition!


Destination: Earth
by Daniel Riera
(foreword to Invasores / Invaders)
Let us imagine that an alien is reading this book. Let each reader choose the alien biotype that he or she likes the most. It does not matter, in this case, what the alien looks like, or what its planet of origin is, or whether its intentions are those of a pacifist or a warmonger. It does not matter how it feeds itself,if indeed it needs to, or how it mates, if indeed it does so, or how its excretory system works, if indeed it has one. Nor does it matter what the design of its spaceships might be, nor what technology it is that makes them work. It does not matter where the alien is reading this book: whether on its home planet, aboard its spaceship, or at the base that aliens, as everybody knows, have in Roswell. The only thing that matters, in this case, is that it is an alien and that it is reading this book. There is no doubt this book will be a must in every alien library, and I am not saying this because of this book's stories on aliens: after all, any fairly informed alien is familiar with them, or has at least heard about them. I was in fact saying that this book will undoubtedly be a must in every alien library because this is actually a great book on humans. And if the aliens are planning to either visit us peacefully or invade us, this book may turn out to be a very useful way for them to know about us.

The raw material for the work of good journalists (and Alejandro Agostinelli is one of the best I know) is people, and not politics, economy, sports, art, science or aliens. Good journalists from planet Earth never forget that each account they describe, each story they narrate, is about human beings.

In October, 2002, the great expert Ryszard Kapuscinski gave an unforgettable seminar in Argentina, the content of which was published in its entirety in the book Los cinco sentidos del periodista (The Five Senses of the Journalist). Back then, Kapuscinski said the following:

Journalism is, in my opinion, among the most gregarious professions that exist, because, without others, we cannot do anything. Without the help, the participation, the opinion and thoughts of others, we do not exist. The fundamental condition of this job is this understanding with the other: we do - and we are - what others let us do and be. No modern society can exist without journalists, but we journalists cannot exist without society.

Therefore, a fundamental condition that is needed in order to perform this job is the capacity to function together with others. In most cases, we become slaves in situations in which we lose our autonomy, when we depend on others to take us to a secluded place, or tell us about the object of our research. A journalist cannot put himself above those with whom he is going to work: on the contrary, he must be a peer, someone like them, in order to get close, understand and then express his expectations and hopes.

Listening to others. That's what it's all about. And listening with attention and respect. Learning from others. With or without aliens inbetween. Two brothers miss their deceased father; a father loses his daughter and copes with that pain the best he can; a woman gets tired of the city routine and of her husband and leaves with her daughter for some far-away place; another woman faces the impossibility of having a second child; a group of buddies finds a way to have fun. The problems of people who have seen flying saucers, have talked to or made love with an alien, are very much like the problems of those of us who haven’t had those kinds of experiences. And we all want to know why things happen to us. Particularly when we hurt.

Alejandro Agostinelli has devoted a good part of his life to researching these kinds of cases: I know for a fact that he could write twenty books as good as this one without repeating one single story. As a reader, I would like him to do so. At first he was a credulous ufologist, just like some of his interviewees; then, he became a militant skeptic, like those refuters of legends that Alejandro Dolina immortalized in his Crónicas del Ángel Gris (The Gray Angel’s Chronicles). Through his journey on both sides, Agostinelli discovered that the more his passion grew for alien case studies, the more he held on to our planet and the beings that inhabit it. He started wondering, then, why aliens are seen by those who see them; why these people look up to the sky to see aliens, and why, finally, they find what they were looking for. Invasores is made out of this wonderful material. It is a book conceived and written to be enjoyed by readers all over the universe, but, above all, by those who reside on Earth.

INEXPLICATA Welcomes UFO MATRIX Magazine





















INEXPLICATA is honored to be able to contribute to UFO researcher Philp Mantle's new publication, UFO MATRIX, through a regular column showcasing news and analysis on UFO cases in the Spanish-speaking world.

We received the following message from Philip today:


I am pleased to announce that the new 100 page full colour newsstand publication UFO MATRIX MAGAZINE will be launched on July 29th 2010. The first issue will go on sale in the UK and can be purchased in all of the usual high street outlets. This new bi-monthly publication will deal with any and all aspects of the UFO subject.

This new publication is edited by Philip Mantle and assistant editor Malcolm Robinson. It has an international line-up of columnists including: Nick Pope (UK), Mike Hallowell (UK), Steve Johnson (UK), Peter Robbins (USA), Scott Corrales (USA), Clas Svahn (Sweden), Lee Paqui (Australia) and Sheryl Gottschall (Australia).

The first issue will see features such as: A Conversation with Kenneth Arnold by the late Bob Pratt and Roswell and the Senator by Don Schmitt. The Isodoro Ferri UFO landing case from Italy also demonstrates the international scope of this publication. We will also have UFO sightings, encounters, news and reviews and Dr David Clarke looks back at this years MoD UFO files in the UK. Some recent UFO photographs from different parts of the world are also featured. In short, if you are interested in the UFO subject then this magazine has something for everyone.

UFO MATRIX MAGAZINE will be published on July 29th 2010 and you can reserve your copy now at our web site: www.healingsofatlantis.com. At the moment we are only taking subscriptions from the UK and Europe but the USA/rest of the world will follow shortly.

UFO MATRIX MAGAZINE is also open to submissions from any interested parties and submissions enquiries should be directed to the editor at: philip@mantle8353.fsworld.co.uk

UFO MATRIX MAGAZINE are also pleased to announce that they are the official sponsors of this years WEIRD 10 conference. Full details via:
http://www.mystical-county.org.uk/w10-home.htm

Manuel Carballal's New Website

















INEXPLICATA Contributing Editor Manuel Carballal has led one of the most interesting lives that anyone could wish for: delving into the mystery of zombies in Haiti, losing himself in deepest Mongolia, journeying to Africa on repeated occasions, covering UFO and paranormal events in different regions of Spain and hosting successful radio and television shows.

His new website is at: www.manuelcarballal.com and we encourage our readers to stop by for a look and a read.

Above are two photos from Manuel's website: one during his soujourn in the Sahara Desert and another from his experiences in Haiti.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Mexico: The Chinameca Alien - A Sociological Interpretation



















Source: www.monclovanet.com.mx
Date: 04.20.10


The Chinameca Alien: Monclova’s Chupacabras Madness
By Gloria Jaramillo

Amid the convulsion unleashed by the economic crisis and the violence that pervades every corner of the country, and in an episode reminiscent of the Chupacabras legend, young men and children from Monclova claim having seen a figure they have described as otherworldly, and was christened as “El Alien” by the media. In both of these cases, boys and teens describe a strange creature with smooth grey skin, large shining eyes similar to those of a dog, four-legged but walking on its two hind legs.

In recent days, the alleged discovery has represented a sort of respite after the psychosis that residents of the Central Region have experienced as the outcome of violence in several parts of the country, the economic crisis and the fuel boycotts that will take place on Saturday.

The subject is suitable for comment by the gas station attendant, who asks his co-worker: “So what’s up with the Alien?” by the psychologist from a state agency who wonders about the motives behind the entity’s alleged presence, and the businessman who claims to be part of the new generation of government employees, on account of the high cost of electricity, fuel and taxes.

After dark on Sunday, young Omar Andres Armendariz and Jose Rolando Gallegos, age 12, visited a store located a block a way from their home in Colonia Chinameca – in the city’s Eastern section – at the request of a neighbor who asked them to fetch a bottle of milk.

According to their story, the saw what they at first took to be a rabbit, and followed it. When it felt cornered, it ran into an empty lot and sought shelter amid the brush; the boys threw stones at it and approached. Upon getting closer, they saw two large eyes shining. Suddenly, the being stood on its hind legs and fled the scene.

Terrified, the boys ran back to their parents’ house, saying that they’d seen an alien, but described it as being smooth and grey. But what impressed them the most is that the quadruped walked away on two legs, like a human. They filed a police report, and that’s when skeptical and somewhat amused members of the police visited the site. They combed it and listened to the astonishing story told by the kids. Nothing was found.

On Monday morning, four teenagers fishing for prawns in the “Charco Azul”, a wretched area that is all that remains of once mighty Monclova River, told police that they’d seen the “Alien”

The description was similar to that given by the Chinameca boys, but this one added that the entity submerged into the water.

Four youths were involved here: Jesus and Emanuel Medrano, Rolando Salazar and Gerardo Amaya, who filed a report of their own in the presence of police officers. The officers, as part of their routine duties, combed the area searching for the being and found nothing. All the boys got for their effort was to be removed from the location.

Psychoanalyst Camilo Ramirez believes that stories of aliens and Chupacabras do not necessarily come from authorities seeking to create smokescreens to cover grave social woes, but they are indeed exploited by the means of communication.

In his interpretation, he states that amid the virtual state of exclusion in which Mexican society now finds itself, amid a drug war in which innocent civilians die in increasing numbers, such delusions may emerge.

“Another interesting situation is that when those at hand do not provide assistance, it is necessary to ask the aliens – meaning foreigners – for help. If authorities cannot help, there are the aliens. It provides meaning within the socio-cultural context when there is a lack of order, authority is fragmented, and the need for meaning arises. Perhaps children or teenagers can give meaning in these features,” he says.

He adds: “Beyond the alleged smokescreen created by the authorities to distract the public, or the fuel boycott on the weekend, or the registration of cellphones and the fear that these records will be misused, we are in a world of foreigners. When someone launches a deluded idea, if we perceive it the ravings of a madman, we are not measuring its social scope. A link exists.”

Alien, he says, means foreign. “To humans, aliens are extraterrestrials, the strangest or more remote. That which is most remote is the closest, because humans constitute themselves from the outside: another who acknowledges us, another determines our usages and customs, and we exist as a result of others. Our existence is therefore artificial, even though we occupy biological bodies.”

The psychologist goes on to interpret: “Nowadays, the foreigners, the aliens, are soldiers, the police. We experience them as strange, not knowing if we should beware of them or feel protected by them, if they are here to help or harm us further. Never mind infiltrate us. The emergence of aliens should not be surprising among children whose fantasies enable them to ascribe the hatred or dislike they feel toward some people.”

(Translation (c) 2010, S. Corrales, IHU)

Mexico: Chupacabras in Monclova, Coahuila?
























Source: www.analuisacid.com and others
Date: 04.28.10


Mexico: Four-Armed “Grey Monster” in Monclova

Several witnesses claim seeing the creature – Elements of the public safety forces responded to reports – Creature’s presence is associated with animal deaths.

[Prof. Ana Luisa Cid notes: “I learned of this incident through Ing. Ricardo García of Monclova. It should be noted that the reports are from three separate dates: April 4, 5 and 9. On the 4th, it was seen by some children in the Chinameca district; on the 5th, it was seen at the Alamo district, where witnesses point out that it submerged into the Monclova River; on the 9th it was reported that a shepherd saw it several times at a ranch and that it has killed 10 goats in six months. All information is from the Zocalo newspaper.”]

Zocalo Saltillo
Monster Causes Alarm in Chinameca
By Sergio A. Rodriguez
Diario Zocalo, April 5, 2010


MONCLOVA, Coahuila – Residents of Colonia Chinameca were gripped by a psychosis on Saturday night after two children reported seeing an alleged monster of humanoid characteristics and four legs on Calle Londres in that busy sector.

The children described the entity as a little man with smooth, grey skin and four legs or lower extremities. It was seen in an empty lot of the street in question in the Chinameca district.

Omar Andres Armendariz and Jose Rolando Gallegos, both 13 and local residents, were terrified and spread the word of the “being” they had just seen among other locals.

The mother of one of the youngsters, seeing the state of nerves that her child was in, called the police, requesting that whoever caused her son to fall into such a state of terror be apprehended.

After receiving the report, law enforcement agents reported to the scene and searched everywhere for the strange little man, but could not establish it whereabouts. However, this is not the first time that strange things have been reported in this district, according to residents.

“Monster” Drives Bathers Out of the Moncloa River
By Alejandro Hernández
Diario Zocalo, April 6, 2010


MONCLOVA, Coahuila – Residents of Colonia Alamo had quite a fright yesterday upon seeing a large, grey-colored, four-legged creature submerge into the waters of the Monclova River at the location known as “El Charco Azul” (the blue pond)

Public Safety Personnel reported immediately to the scene to deal with the case, which represents the second sighting of an unknown being with matching characteristics.

Officers of the Policia Preventiva ordered bathers out of the water at the location where the “grey monster” was seen entering the river.

According to reports provided by the police department, residents contacted the desk officer to report the strange animal sighting at 2:00 p.m.

It should be noted that on Saturday night, two minors were terrified by the sight of a strange being in Colonia Chinameca. They described it as having the same characteristics.

In yesterday’s report, residents of Colonia Alamo stated that what appeared to be a “strange animal” broke into a run and entered “El Charco Azul”, submerging itself without coming out again.

Several elements of the Municipal Police reached the site quickly and conversed with some locals, who concealed their personal information.

Four young men from Colonia del Río – Jesús, Rolando, Emmanuel and Edgar – were terror-stricken by the “little man” while fishing for king prawns at the location.

Psychosis Strikes Monclova – “Monster” Now Seen at Ejido
By Zocalo, April 9, 2010

MONCLOVA, Coahuila – The monster seen at Chinameca and the Monclova River appears to dwell in the city’s southwestern section, over by Ejido Curva de Juan Sánchez, where it has slain 10 goats over the past six months and has been seen on at least five occasions, even in broad daylight.

Jaime Cruz, a 21-year-old shepherd from Irapuato, Guanajuato, says that he has seen the strange beast several times between Ejido Curva de Juan Sánchez and the Colinas de Santiago district. The beast is no ordinary animal and is also capable of extremely high leaps.

(Translation (c) 2010, S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Prof. Ana Luisa Cid)

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Chile: Tarapacá UFO Wave Continues















Source: La Estrella de Iquique
Date: 04.19.2010


Chile: Tarapacá UFO Wave Continues

The apparition of an unidentified flying object caused a commotion in Tarapacá on Thursday night. The luminous object was seen throught the region, particularly in the Cavancha and Playa Brava sections.

Professional photographer Marco Pardo captured the exact moment in which a large flashing light hung motionless in the sky over Playa Brava.

"It was strange at first, because the intensity of its light waxed and wanted, but it didn't move at all," Pardo explained. His camera captured the precise moment in which the UFO moved from north to south and viceversa, remaining visible in the heavens for nearly 10 minutes.

"There's a moment in which this light travels rapidly from one place to another, only to vanish to the north," added the photographer.

The sighting occurred after 23:00 hours on the coast of Iquique. The image was taken from the balcony of his home, located at Los Molles on the corner with Cerro Dragón.

Ufologist Mario Pizarro believes that this sighting is another of many recorded over the city in recent times. "These are cyclical times, when the sky has been clear at night, facilitating the sighting of these objects," he explains, adding that UFOs are "prototypes of luminous ships that behave in a very special manner in the sky." A description similar to the one given by the cameraman who took the photos.

Regarding research after the event, Pizarro stated that he is working on it and a series of other sightings, including on in Alto Hospicio and the confirmed sighting of a UFO in the skies of Chile's Second Region, specifically Antofagasta. The possibility that it could be the same flying object seen over the Iquique coastline is not being dismissed.

(Translation (c) 2010, S. Corrales, IHU)

Chile: UFO Sighitngs Continue Unabated

Source: La Estrella de Iquique
Date: Tuesday, April 20, 2010


Chile: Sightings Continue Unabated in the Region

20:33 - A true wave of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) has washed over the skies of Iquique in recent days.

The latest sighting was the one recorded from Cerro Tarapacá - a sighting that involved three objects.

In this regard, Fredy Valenzuela, a protagonist to the event, narrated the event and what was captured in photos and video. "I'm a telecommunications contractor and this is the first time that I've had to climb Cerro Tarapacá. On my way back, I saw two air force jets flying around; I saw them from the mountain toward the sea. I looked for a while and later saw three objects flying in different directions," he explained.

(Translation (c) 2010, S. Corrales, IHU)

Monday, April 26, 2010

Mexico: UFOs on the Morelia Airport Runway














Mexico: UFOs On the Morelia Airport Runway
By Salvador Mora, La Esfera Azul

As a follow up to the transcendent and highly important case involving UFOs seen over Runway 05 at the Morelia Airport in the year 2002, we present a special report from 2005 created by a prestigious Mexican researcher and good friend – Ruben Villatoro – who visited Morelia at the time to conduct his research, captured in this report. We repeat that this is one of the most important documents on the subject of UFOs in our country, due to all the factors it involved.

We would like to extend our thanks to Ruben Villatoro and Carlos Clemente for their cooperation and participation with our group in the research that we ourselves conducted at the time with Emmanuel Garcia and Emiliano Torres. This case involved authorities at the highest level, as well as pilots, air traffic controllers, and multiple witnesses. Given its implications, it was even classified as a matter of national security. It now belongs to history of serious and in-depth research into the subject of UFOs.

Watch the video IN SPANISH at: http://acusticavisual.net/grupolaesferaazul/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=194:ovnis-aeropuerto-morelia-2002-reportaje


(Translation (c)2010. S. Corrales, IHU)

Chile: UFOs On The Prowl Over Tarapacá


Source: La Estrella de Iquique
Date: 04.26.10


UFOs On The Prowl Over Tarapacá
By José Cuello Miranda

Ufologists throughout the country have a lot of work on their hands, and the reason for this is Tarapacá, where there has been an exponential increase in the number of sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs).

The phenomenon has startled residents of Iquique. On many occasions, citizens have been stunned to see lights or objects that shouldn’t be there every time they look up to the skies.

The phenomenon’s very existence is a mystery, considering that the reason for its presence has never been explained, and much less forecasted. But there are historic periods of time in which the appearance of numerous UFO cases have drawn the attentions of ufologists.

When a large number of UFO reports occur in a short period of time, ufologists call it a “flap”; if the situation endures for a longer time span, it becomes known as a “wave”, which can easily last several months.

As far as Iquique is concerned, the area has been tallying manifestations since the month of November (2009) and has reached its highest point during the month of April of this year, as sightings keep occurring. Another interesting fact is that whenever a sighting appears to be spectacular, another occurs to surpass it.

During last week alone, and while this report was being drafted, cases began taking place on a daily basis. Several have been left out of this compilation due to an absence of good quality visual evidence. Foremost among these is the sighting of three objects simultaneously, recorded accidentally from Cerro Tarapacá, where a contractor recorded the event for 30 minutes.

But while this case was celebrated by experts, the event that occurred on Thursday, April 22nd was more important: Paola Cabrera, a resident of the Mares del Sur condominium, was able to see a multicolored light that remained for several minutes over Iquique and which “escaped” toward the mountains, causing a blackout as it did so. The surprise was even greater on the next day, when Yocelin Melendez, a resident of the Los Conquistadores building in the north of the city – that is to say, on the other side of Iquique – was seeing the same object and even managed to record it. What makes this case remarkable is that she worked for an airline for a long time, and is wise about things that belong in the sky, or don’t belong there.

“My camera was focused from the balcony. I took a long time to set it up on the tripod. I tried to focus on the object, but it was very hard. It was toward the sea. I stepped away from the camera for a while, as I had other things to do, and it left at that moment.”

Yocelin was even more specific in her narrative, as she described the object: “It was round, a red-colored circle, and a sort of light.” She adds that her husband also saw it, and while somewhat skeptical at first, he believed her. The recording covers a total of seven minutes.

Finally, on Friday at 23:45 hours, a new report of a similar object was received. It could be seen from the southern area of Iquique, toward the sea..

Why are these objects plowing the skies over Tarapacá? No one knows. This is one of the greatest enigmas of our time, a riddle for which there appears to be no solution.

(Translation (c) 2010, Scott Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Guillermo Gimenez)

Friday, April 23, 2010

Argentina: The Sayago CE-3 (1980)


Argentina: The Sayago CE-3 (April 22,1980)

By Oscar A. (“Quique”) Mario - CEUFO

"The Sayago Case” became a classic of the 1980s. Given its spectacular characteristics, it took up considerable space in the national media while a group of young researchers from the now vanished SIOVNI group commenced field research and followed up on the protagonist to the amazing story.

On September 22, 1982 – two and a half years later – the witness died as a result of a kidney disease, which according to doctors, was “congenital in nature” due to his family background. But it should be noted that up until the day on which his life-changing experience occurred, Sayago ran between 5 and 15 kilometers a day as part of the regular training for one of his passions: race-walking, sponsoring several competitions.

The event occurred on the rainy evening of April 22, 1980 when Fermin Sayago drove his 1960 model Impala along Santiago Marzo Avenue to the east of the city and in a south-to-north direction. The time was 19:15. The experiencer said that “something dark and oval shaped fell over me from above” at the time he was about to cross the train tracks. He defined the object’s size as comparable to “a 3 x 3 room”. Sayago explained that “my car’s engine died and I instinctively covered my face against the steering wheel, thinking the object was going to crash against me.”Nothing of the sort occurred. The out-of-control vehicle stopped against the opposite curb and Fermin Sayago got out of the car, thinking about nothing else but starting the engine again. “I do remember that the headlights were on,” he stressed. This allowed him to deduce that the car’s electric system hadn’t been affected.Sayago popped the hood and took a look at the engine, trying to ascertain the reason for the problem.

At that time he felt “a cold wind emerging from below” and a sound similar to “the tinkling of a keychain.” When he looked up, saw “a being” standing to the side of the car, and whose characteristics frightened him. “It gestured at me with its hands, urging me to keep calm,” said Sayago. Far from accepting this suggestion, Sayago turned around to run away from the place, but there was a second “being” standing behind him. This second entity took him by the head and lifted him up gently. “At that time I felt a pricking sensation in my head and I passed out.”When consulted about the characteristics that drew his attention most, in spite of the limited opportunity to see the entities, the witness explained: “Their faces were dark. A reddish gleam was visible from their eye cavities. Their noses (if they had any) was very flat.” As to their mouths, he recalled that “they were larger than normal. Their ears were big and protruded from the sides of their heads.” As to their clothing, he described it as “dark grey, as if they had some sort of scales, because I could see that their scales were shining.” One of the creatures “had a sort of medallion over its chest, with what appeared to be a chain.”

At 19:30 hours (15 minutes later) Sayago found himself fifteen blocks away from the site, in a heavily congested area. No one saw him arrive. The first pedestrian who approached him noticed that he was seated on the curb, while his car was sideways across Belgrano Avenue, interrupting the flow of traffic. Someone notified his family while an ambulance conveyed the man who seemed “out of it” to a downtown clinic where he was given first aid, with special attention his nervous condition.Doctors refrained from making comments about Sayago’s experience, although he gave them a detailed breakdown of the event. Discussing the subject in 1980 was not forbidden, but not a matter that a professional person wanted to explore too deeply. The next day, gripped by a deep depression, Sayago was discharged and returned home.

Initial contact with Pampean researchers took place on that day, and he retold his experience. They visited him on a daily basis and the witness informed the researchers about the “strange dreams” that kept him from getting any rest, and which had turned into nightmares. His health declined considerably and nothing was ever the same for him, in spite of the unconditional support received from his wife Alicia and his young daughter. A few months later, his kidney affliction reached full force, leading him to undergo dialysis until the day he died: September 22, 1982.While the Pampean researchers conducted an investigation that required the involvement of over 20 people, there came a point when they needed the support of an experienced researcher.

This is how the late Pedro Romaniuk became involved, offering important scientific support to the task, with surprising results obtained through hypnotic regression – the first performed in the province. At the suggestion of one of the attending physicians, who asked to remain confidential, the case remained open and a significant contribution of other eyewitness reports was obtained. This led to the Sayago case becoming an icon of both regional and international ufology.

[Translation (c) 2010, S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Guillermo Gimenez, Planeta UFO and Quique Mario, CEUFO)]

Monday, April 19, 2010

Background Report: UFOs in the Dominican Republic

Although this article has appeared elsewhere (Tim Swartz's excellent "Conspiracy Journal")it might serve as a good background paper for those readers who may be unaware of the rich history of UFO sightings and encounters with non-human creatures in the Dominican Republic, particularly in the light of the recent and spectacular sighting of an unidentified triangular craft.

UFOs Over Hispaniola
by Scott Corrales
(c) 2006



On August 29, 2005, Carlos Peña, an engineer from the Dominican Republic, witnessed an object he described as a "black UFO" flying at an estimated altitude of a thousand to three thousand meters (calculated by the object's flight between two different cloud strata). "The object was traveling from West to East and its shape was hard to describe," said the engineer in his report. "I was unable to define its shape, but I believe it was something [...] like the alleged "flying humanoids" seen in Mexico over recent months. I cannot relate it to any other object, such as balloons, birds,
airplanes, etc. on account to its very strange shape."

The sighting lasted only forty seconds, but it is possibly the only sighting of a
UFO in the Dominican Republic in recent years. Just as it is true that some countries or parts of our planet appear to be "UFO prone", there are others that remain ufologically quiet for decades after having had significant case histories involving UFO sightings and encounters and brushes with the paranormal. One of these countries is the Dominican Republic, which experienced a series of "flaps"
in the 1970s that attracted international attention, as we shall see from
the cases below.

Lost in Antiquity

UFO activity in the Dominican Republic may go as far back as the caves: The island’s early inhabitants have left us a legacy of petroglyphs to be found in the province of Sanamá, depicting unknown artifacts project rays of light and others with clearly detailed ladders coming out their hulls (anthropologists describe these depictions as ceremonial masks and representations of the “cemí” deities of the ancient Tainos, however). These images are hardly unique: Aimé Michel, one of France’s foremost UFO researchers, was prompted to believe that many of the petroglyphs found in French and Spanish caves actually depicted unknown flying objects and not “hunting traps, nets or fences”, as anthropologists would have it.

The island has also enjoyed the distinction of being at the center of a controversy which has raged since the 16th century: whether it was discovered by Columbus during his second voyage to the "New World", or if it was indeed discovered in 1480 by Alfonso Sánchez, master of the hapless caravel Atlante, who left detailed records of his exploration of the island along with a map, which may have come into the Genoese mariner's possession. But not even this controversy has come close to the contemporary furor over the strange objects reported in the skies, seas and land of the Dominican Republic.


A Decade of Intense Activity

November 1972 marked the high point of UFO and paranormal activity over the Dominican Republic. One of the most memorable cases involved the remarkable healing of a woman afflicted with cancer of the stomach following the sudden apparition of an unidentified flying object. On November 6 that year, a prayer service was held at the home Mrs. Ramona de Baez, 45, in the town of Paya on the southern coast of Hispaniola. Some ten people stood in a circle around Mrs. Baez, who lay in bed. Suddenly, one of the guests – a woman named Julia Elvira – reportedly saw a light “like a large star” through the window, approaching the house from a considerable distance until it finally came to rest upon the house, flooding it with light. This event caused a panic among those within, except for Marino Baez, who was leading the prayers. Mr. Baez reportedly “saw an angel” taking him by the hand to lead him back to the ailing Ramona’s bed. There, the luminous entity allegedly placed its hands over the patient’s abdomen, causing her to fall asleep. Five minutes later, Ramona leaped out of bed saying that she no longer felt ill. At no point did the patient ever see the entity – only Mr. Baez’s hands on her stomach and “a cold sensation in her back”. The case became widely known throughout the region, prompting researchers to contact Ramona Baez’s oncologist, Dr. Oscar Espaillat, who confirmed her condition and status, adding that the woman had never returned for further treatment.

Earlier that same year, the Dominican press had published reports on the remarkable healings carried out by Luciana Pelàez of the town of Barahona. Ms. Peláez was a fervent Catholic whose healings attracted national attention, even that of President Joaquin Balaguer, who said that Ms. Peláez was “deserving of respect and high esteem”. It is not known if the chief executive ever resorted to the healer’s cures, as has occurred with healers and other Latin American officials (Mexico’s Plutarco Elías Calles with “Niño Fidencio” and Brazil’s Jacinto Kubitschek with the world famous “Zé Arigo”). On March 29th, Ms. Pelaez held an open mass outside the city of Santo Domingo, asking those in attendance to offer prayers for the sick and cautioning that “something” might take place later that evening that should be perceived only as a “manifestation of God.”

At six thirty, the healer fell into a trance and the crowd began to weep and shout, prompting the priest celebrating the mass to interrupt the service and look to the sky: right beside the moon, there was a second “moon” rising and sinking among the clouds, emitting a yellowish glow that increased brightly before dimming once more. The religious service was only able to continue after the crowd’s level of excitement over this strange phenomenon had subsided.

Surprising encounters with humanoids were soon to follow: In September 1972, a driver near the town of Palenque in the Dominican Republic was flagged down by a trio of aliens in gray, form-fitting uniforms and with lemon-hued skins. An egg-shaped UFO was in the background, and the driver became understandably concerned for his safety. One of the aliens approached him and engaged him in perfect Spanish, telling him that he had once been as human as he was, having been rescued by the aliens from nearly drowning in the high seas ten years previously. His human name had been Freddy Miller, and he had successfully adapted to living on the aliens' home world.

The inability to get a good night’s sleep on a hot spring night managed to land Mario Garcia, a private pilot, in the pages of UFO history. At 2 o’clock in the morning on May 24, 1976, he got out of bed to breathe some fresh air on his apartment’s balcony. The presence of some strange flashes of light to the south prompted him to go back inside for his telescope, and looking through the eyepiece he was able to see an oval object with a small row of windows along its midsection. Its surface was so highly polished, García would later tell researchers, that the slightest reflected light could blind any onlooker. Setting his aviation knowledge to the matter, García said that the unidentified object was rising between fifty to one hundred feet a minute, “as though carrying a very heavy cargo” until it reached an 3000-foot altitude. At that point, it retracted its prominent landing gear and its antenna circled a number of times “as if trying to lock on to a signal or tracking device.” The unusual and science-fictionish craft vanished toward the west “at a speed incomprehensible to the human mind.”

The Robot Man

An afternoon playing with cousins and the family dog developed into a full-blown encounter with the unknown for a ten year-old boy from the village of El Fundo. He had been playing outdoors around five o’clock on the family property when the dog – a Collie – began barking frantically at one of the sheds located on the premises. From behind the wood and zinc structure emerged “a man like a robot” who ignored the canine vocalizations and began walking in a straight line, seemingly oblivious to the frightened children, who ran away and hit in the shrubbery. It was then that the ten year-old heard an unusual sound which he described as “a cavalry charge”. Turning to see what the source of the noise was, he was startled to see an orb measuring approximately three feet in diameter, painted black and surmounted by an unidentified structure, rolling along the ground. The sphere rolled away and vanished into the woods. The “robot man” meanwhile continued his slow, inexorable forward motion away from the scene, harried by the barking dog.

According to researcher Manuel Fiallo, who interviewed the protagonists, the strange entity was wearing a form-fitting outfit of black slacks and a short-sleeved red pullover that revealed “scaly lemon-green arms”. Its face appeared to lack eyes and nose, although the mouth was described as “normal-looking.”


Aliens in the Cane fields

In March 1977, Dominican GOFOS group (Grupo Observador de Fenómenos y Objetos Siderales) researched a case which had taken place in San Francisco Macorís, a farming community in the southern part of the country. In one particular instance, a couple was awakened at 3:30 a.m. by their baby's crying. When the mother went to check on her, she noticed that the entire house was bathed in a hot, greenish-blue light. The mother described it as "a buzzing lightning bolt that won't go away."

The woman's husband went outside to see the source of the mysterious light, perhaps fearing an electrical fire of some sort. He was stunned by what he saw: hovering above the palm trees at a height of some fifty feet was a disk with a large number of "grates" which emitted an array of colors, mainly red, white, blue and green. He ran back into his house as the buzzing sound increased. The heat became
unbearable as the vehicle zoomed out of sight, and the couple was left with irritated eyes and a dryness of the throat that persisted for a week. Not much was known about UFOs in the Dominican Republic at the time, and certainly not in the agricultural region of San Francisco Macorís. But that was about to change.

On the night of June 24, 1977 an anonymous witness reported seeing an enigmatic light descending slowly from the night sky to remain motionless over the sea. A tube like structure emerged from the vehicle's "hull" and absorbed seawater for a protracted period of time. The unidentified object then rose again to hover above the witness, who noticed two beings staring at him through a porthole. According to the witness, a larger vehicle absorbed this smaller craft and became lost among the stars.

The stage for the sightings moved from the Dominican Republic's eastern tip to its western border with Haiti, near the sugar-producing region on the Bay of Ocoa, in late 1977 and early 1978, with events taking a grislier turn: mutilations, accompanied by strange lights and bizarre creatures, tormented the cane-cutters of the town of Barahona, who reported that a "gigantic dog" was slaying and eating domestic animals in the dead of the night. This monstrous canine possessed above average intelligence, as it was able to open pens and cages, extracting the last drop of blood from its hapless victims, which consisted largely of cats, hens and rabbits. Local authorities dismissed any supernatural suggestions, stating that it was merely "a joke in the poorest of taste" executed by the inhabitants of this agricultural area. The fact that the locals could ill afford sacrificing their animals for the sake of a prank was deemed irrelevant.

The mutilations were closely followed by a number of "occupant" sightings as the flap reached its peak: Cone-shaped beings were seen in November 1978 by five women in Santo Domingo. Three creatures, twice the height of the tallest human, carrying lanterns on their abdomens, descended a steep hillside to surround an automobile that braked to a screeching halt. The automobile's headlights died as the witnesses heard sounds which they assumed were blows being inflicted upon the vehicle by the conical trio. Their terrified screams attracted the attention of neighbors, who came to their aid. No traces were found of the beings or of the car which they had surrounded.

In the 80's and early 90's, the Dominican Republic's UFO activity became closely linked with the incidents being reported by commercial and recreational mariners along the Mona Passage, the turbulent channel separating Hispaniola from Puerto Rico. Many illegal immigrants, braving the Passage's fierce seas in order to land on Puerto Rico's western shore, have reported seeing bizarre lights performing spectacular aerial maneuvers before plunging noiselessly into the black waters. An anonymous ship captain in the illegal immigrant trade claimed that his fishing boat, along with its human cargo, was almost capsized by the sudden emergence of a glowing craft from beneath the waves.

Dominican Republic: UFO Videotaped Over La Vega












Source: Noticias Telemicro.Com
Date: 04.16.10
Video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBHCXAFW2ic


Guillermo Gimenez and Liliana Núñez have alerted us this morning to a curious image of an alleged triangular UFO that was captured on a cellphone or camcorder by residents of La Vega in the Dominican Republic.

According to reports, the event occurred around 20:30 hours on Friday, April 16, 2010 and startled residents of Villa Francisca II with its maneuvers. The object reportedly flew over homes, later remained static, and was described as "a UFO" by the news media. The object suddenly vanished after rotating in place for a number of minutes.

At the end of the video, the anchorman prays that the object will not reappear and that the good people of La Vega will get their much-deserved sleep.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Argentina: Saucers Over Antarctica? (1991)

















Source: El Fuego del Dragón and Planeta UFO
Date: 04.11.10


Argentina: Saucers Over Antarctica? (1991)
By Miguel Amaya

I am an officer in the Argentinean Air Force, still on active duty. I perform my duties at the Resistencia Airport, specializing in Meteorology, subspecializing as a Weather Observer and Radiosonde Operator. I am someone who is able to distinguish atmospheric phenomena and aircraft from any other thing that is suspended in the air.

I shall endeavor to make my story brief. This occurred at the General San Martin base in the Argentinean Antarctic, more or less in April or May 1991. I don’t remember very well, but I know that it was at the start of the polar night. The base’s crew complement was 20, both scientists and military.

The main protagonists were the three civilians on base, who were in another shack not far from our own and had their laboratory within. As scientists, their job was to study the layers of the upper atmosphere (ionosphere) and that is where they kept their measuring instruments. The engineer is a very good, open-minded person – a resident of Mar del Plata, called XXXX and is an electronic engineer by profession.

The only phone on the base rang that evening at around 01:15. It connected the laboratory to the weather station. It was the engineer, asking if the radio operators had their gear connected and broadcasting to the continent. When I advised him that I was the only one awake at the time, and no one else was around, he hung up immediately without explanation. I continued to make my weather observations without further developments. Outside, it kept snowing. We had some six or seven days of constant snow. Clouds were between 30 and 60 meters (low stratus), visibility was restricted to 200-300 meters and temperatures at the time were between –20 to –25 centigrade. My shift ended without any developments and I went to bed after being relieved from duty.

I woke up at around 17:00 hours. I remember not eating anything, but I felt a great urge to go outside ( may I remind you that we were on a very small island). I went outside, walked around the base, and climbed to a height above the house where there was a small grotto containing a statue of the Virgin Mary. I sat on a rock – the view was extraordinary – and I saw that another member of the base had arrived: a radio operator from the Argentinean Army, who I recognized when he took off his goggles. It wouldn’t ‘ve surprised me to see another comrade, but this fellow was prone to the cold and never left the baste. At that time, temperatures were more or less –25 C, which was startling. When I asked him what he was doing outside, he replied that he felt the need to go outside. We stayed there around 15 minutes and went back to avoid freezing. Everyting was normal up to that point.

At dinnertime, my place at the table was next to the engineer who had phoned me in the evening. I asked him why he’d called, and he gave me a look indicating that he didn’t know what to say. I looked back, and all the base personnel went quiet. I didn’t understand what was happening. He then asked whether I lived inside a thermos bottle. I repeated that I had no idea what was going on, and that’s when he told me.

At approximately 01:00 hours, they were about to go to bed when an item of equipment (I belived it’s called a Ryometer) began to issue an alarm, indicating that a signal was being measured or picked up. They connected another unit of equipment that was more or less an amplifier with a three-armed register system (something like a seismograph). The unit began to operate normaly, but after five minutes, the three needles started to make the same repeteated marks – an impossibility, according to the engineer, because according to the example he gave me, it was sort of like the clocks on a car’s dashboard – one measures engine temperature, another measures oil pressure, and still another measures the battery. This was impossible. At intervals, these “signals” were interrupted and everything became normal. It would start up again in ten to fifteen minute intervals, sometimes with such force that they would fly off the chart.

He told me that around 03:00 hours, three of them went outside with flashlights to see if there was a UFO stationed above them, as such marks could have only been made “if the “USS Kitty Hawk” had been anchored 10 meters away from the house with its nuclear engines at full power, or a city the size of Buenos Aires suspended 100 meters over the surface with all of its lights on.” (A literal quote).

The signals ended around 05:30 hours that morning. It was a Friday and at around 08:00, the engineer contacted the Dirección General del Antártico (General Office of the Antarctic) to report to his superior (Engineer XXXX). When he began to tell him about the intensity of the signals, of an intensity recorded nowhere else in the world, his boss interrupted him, saying “that could never be”, which caused our companion to reply that he had 40 meters of chart roll as evidence, which were received over four and a half hours of recording. The superior replied: “Well, Engineer XXX, there are some subjects that cannot be discussed over the wireless, so when I visit the base in February aboard the Q5 (the icebreaker Almirante Iznar) you’ll hand over that chart roll personally. From this day on you’ll carry it on you (figuratively) and don’t send it along in any flight. Let’s not discuss the subject further and move on to something else.”

It didn’t end thre. After dinner I went to take a look at the roll. At around 22:00 hours I returned to the Meteorological Station, where one of the three members of the lab stopped by to retrieve his coat, saying goodnight early, as he hadn’t had much sleep the night before. Five minutes later, the phone rang I and heard the voice of [name withheld] excitedly asking me to go to thelab. Upon reaching it, I noticed that he was very nervous. He said that after leaving my office, walking some 15 meters from the main residence, he felt the urge to look skyward (although it was still snowing and the clouds were low) and saw an enormous circle of light, dimmed by the clouds, flying overhead. Even so it was still visible, and it headed out slowly to sea without making a sound.

(Translation (c) 2010, S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Carlos Iurchuk of “El Fuego del Dragón” and Guillermo Giménez]

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Mexico: Cargo Plane and Possible UFO


















Prof. Ana Luisa Cid has shared with us a photo sent by Alfonso Salazar and taken by Mr. Fausto Abaroa in the state of Mexico on March 13, 2010.

In personal correspondence between Salazar and Prof. Cid, he states that Mr. Abaroa took the photos from his home near the suburban community of Ciudad Satélite outside Mexico City. The photo shows a Boeing 727-200 belonging to DHL and a strange orb of light.

"The witness," writes Salazar, "says that the UFO was large and remained stationary in the San Mateo Air Corridor (at the moment the airliner flew past, 14:00 hours). Weather conditions were clear, sunny and windless. It should be noted that at the distance that the airliner maintained from the object, the lives of the Panamanian-registered craft were in danger. This carrier has operated flights to Mexico City for a long time."

"These unknown objects," he continues, "are a hazard to air traffic, according to statements made by specialist Enrique Kolbeck, who has worked as an air traffic controller for 30 years. He has repeated this belief on several occasions. Furthermore this Boeing had already experienced another UFO close encounter over Mexico City's airport a year ago as it reached the city."

Around this time (March 13, 2010) there were reports of spherical objects resembling soap bubbles and making intelligent movements. One of them was seen at 1:30 p.m. near the National Conservatory of Music in Polanco and the other above the Juarez Hemicycle, in Mexico City's Alameda Park.

The UFO wave has increased throughout the country from January to the present date.


(Translation (c) 2010. S.Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Ana Luisa Cid
http://analuisacid.com/?p=5899)

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

UFO's: Not So Strange After All?







UFOs: Not So Strange After All?
By Scott Corrales

Latin America has often been scorned by U.S. researchers as a place that produces highly colorful and unverifiable accounts of UFO sightings, with the attendant phenomena of occupants, monsters, submarine bases, etcetera. While it is true that once upon a time the line between the metaphysical and the entirely physical tended to get blurred, there can be no doubt that many of the objects seen streaking across the southern skies are in fact, not quite so alien.

With "kind space brothers" of the Adamskian mold consigned to the attic of history, and the ETH in retreat, ovnílogos have turned their attention to a possibility that always lurked in the back of everyone's mind: that certain types of UFO phenomena could be a lot closer to earth than was previously believed.

Daniel Rebisso Giese, the Brazilian author of Vampiros Extraterrestres Na Amazonia, was among the first researchers to look into the 1977 UFO attack on the isolated communities of the Amazon Delta. The book popularized the "Chupa-Chupa", described as rectangular and cylindrical structures capable of firing beams of cohered energy against both animals and humans. Rebisso states that these hostile devices forced the locals to stay home at night, and kept fishermen from heading out to the sea, "since many declared that the objects came out of the depths of the Atlantic Ocean."

A number of fanciful theories were juggled about to explain the origin of these solid objects--bona fide alien bloodsuckers, the denizens from an underground empire, a "dying" alien race in need of blood plasma, etc. A possibility that received shorter shrift was that the "chupas" represented the success efforts of Nazi scientists working secretly on an island of the Bay of Marajó since WWII. However, a
curious sideline to the "chupa" phenomenon was the presence of a foreigner, an unnamed young woman, who would purchase vast amounts of fish at the market in Bragança. No one knew where she lived or who she was, or what she did with her considerable amount of "groceries," but evidence pointed to her living on Ilha do Cajueiro, an island infamous for its strange phenomena: local fishermen had reported seeing bizarre lights and the shadows of people moving around in the darkness for many years.

Word of the "fish girl" and her activities prompted action by Brazil's intelligence apparatus, who feared she might be a gun runner or a spy. When they arrived in force on Cajueiro, all they found was an abandoned cabin and an envelope addressed to "Elisabeth". It was believed that whoever she was, this mysterious foreign woman was somehow involved with the "chupas" operators, if only as far as stocking their larder. The presence of strange humans among the confusion caused by the UFO flap was not limited to Ilha Cajueiro, either. In July 1977, at the height of the "chupa" incidents, the corpses of some dead farmers were found in the vicinity of the municipality of Bequimao. Five hundred cruzeiro notes were found lying beside them. The police associated these unexplained deaths with the presence of three "foreign-looking men, who spent most of the day closeted in a local hotel." The trio would be seen driving around at night in a car of unknown manufacture. Other corpses were found in the area, with curiously punctured dollar bills lying next to the hapless victims. [Spanish author Manuel Carballal mentions a curious parallel to this gruesome activity - in this case allegedly related to the UMMO hoax -- in the controversy surrounding Spain's Baroness Lihory and her strange subterranean "laboratory"].

An extraterrestrial hypothesis was also discarded when Mexican authorities were faced with an "unidentified terrestrial object" seen repeatedly in the not readily accessible reaches of the Sonora Desert, particularly in the enigmatic Zone of Silence . According to reports made by local residents, this ground-based UFO was a brilliant light that would move quietly along the desert surface, somehow skirting
or rolling over the cacti and other desert plant life. A number of Mexican UFO researchers voiced an opinion that the strange light could be an American contraption resembling the Soviet Lunakhod moon-rover. A vehicle of this sort, they reasoned, would remain immobile during the hot desert day, recharging its batteries, and roam around at night on its "secret" mission. The real identity of the mysterious light was never established, but it was reminiscent of similar lights seen operating in the Brazil's dense caatinga forests.

A UFO allegedly went down over the Mexico's Sierra Madre mountains during the month of February 1967, causing a great deal of consternation on account of the number of sightings which had taken place throughout the country that year. The residents of Villa Del General Terán had heard a number of large explosions while a sphere descended toward the ground. When the object was examined by American scientists weeks later, it was determined to be " a manufactured titanium gas stowage sphere form a Titan III-C upper stage." The Titan rocket had placed seven communication satellites in orbit a month earlier.

Argentina has also been a favorite UFO port of call since the phenomenon first received attention in the postwar years, and in the heat of intense "flaps", man-made vehicles can sometimes be lumped in with the unknown ones. In 1980, the Argentine media carried a story about an Argentine-born NASA scientist named Fabio Hector Acuña, who notified his mother in Buenos Aires that the "flying saucers" seen over that country were the results of a NASA venture called Project Firewheel. The text of the message read: "On May 23, we will launch a satellite--look up at the sky from June 9th to the 15th around midnight. You will probably only see a flying saucer, but it will have been created by us. The project is called "Firewheel" and it consists of injecting an artificial cloud which will create something like a comet, and that is what you are going to see."

If it were ever positively determined that the UFO phenomenon was a purely terrestrial one, involving man-made craft, it probably woudn't cause much of a sensation in many Latin American countries. For a number of years, Dr. Antonio Las Heras, an Argentinian parapsychologist and talk-show personality, has worked hard at demystifying a number of cases that have formed part of the UFO canon for the past thirty years.

Las Heras concentrated his efforts on the July 1965 involving the sighting of a UFO over the Antarctic by Chilean, Argentinian and British polar research teams. The allegedly alien craft drove compasses crazy, caused magnetometers to produce wild readings. The official statement made at the time by Cmdr. Mario Jahn of the Chilean fleet stated that "it would be foolish to claim that we saw a flying saucer of the type seen in science fiction shows. What we saw was real--a solid object that moved at a tremendous speed...gave off a greenish light, and caused interference with the electromagnetic devices of the Argentine base next to our own, on Decepción Island." Dr. Las Heras suggests that the Decepción Island UFO of 1965 was, in fact, something much more mundane and by far more perilous: a nuclear-powered or warhead-equipped satellite belonging to one of the superpowers, spinning out of control. The EM effects that upset the delicate instruments could have easily been produced by a disintegrating nuclear reactor, or as a result of the satellite's self-destruct mechanism going into action. The satellite's disintegration in the atmosphere would have given the impression of zig-zagging to any earthbound onlooker. Not to disappoint his readers, Las Heras hastily adds that real UFOs were seen (and photographed) over Decepción two years later, at the height of volcanic eruptions that destroyed the island itself.

Las Heras' conclusions cannot be dismissed so easily when we consider that six months after the Antarctic episode, the northern hemisphere faced a similar incident in the woods of Pennsylvania.

The non-extraterrestrial hypotheses set forth for the December 1965 crash at Kecksburg, PA are considerable: a Soviet or Chinese satellite, a nuclear device of the sort mentioned earlier, or a U.S. space mission gone awry. Ufologist Stan Gordon, who has devoted decades to the study of the Kecksburg crash, has always taken great care to point out in his research that UFO and ET are not synonymous, particularly during this incident. Dr. James Oberg suggested that the object was recovered under such secrecy on account of its heat shield, which was far in advance of anything we believed the Communist Bloc to be capable of at the time.

Landlocked Bolivia, home of the inscrutable Tiahuanaco ruins, has a rather active recent history of UFO sightings and crash/retrievals which have proved to have a decidedly non-extraterrestrial bent. In 1962, the Andean community of Ayo-Ayo became the destination of a "space capsule" which apparently disgorged a puma-like feline. The disoriented space traveler was clubbed to death by the frightened locals, who then sold its pelt to a "Colonel Wymer" of the U.S. Embassy, which apparently took charge of the recovery efforts. Seventeen years later, another UFO crashed on the property of a wealthy landowner in the Andean foothills. A local farmer had allegedly seen "a fireball" streaking across the clear night skies, and accompanied by a friend, reached the impact site, where they found a metal sphere made of some lightweight metal roughly the size of a basketball. This evidence was confiscated by Bolivian soldiers. The Bolivian Army would later release a statement saying that the object was by no means extraterrestrial, merely a fuel cell from a satellite. A video of the recovery effort was presented to the U.S. Embassy in La Paz.

These South American incidents bring us ever closer to the role played by the U.S. in recovering space hardware--not our own, in some cases--that has fallen back into the atmosphere. Specialized teams attached to the U.S. Air Force (the Project Moondust and Operation Bluefly of UFO fame) were charged with the mission of beating the particular country's authorities to the site and recovering the artifacts in question. While the possibility that actual extraterrestrial devices have been retrieved should never be discounted, there is a greater likelihood that these teams have recovered film canisters from KH-series spy satellites ("Big Birds") and other sensitive technology that may have survived disintegration upon reentry.

Recently declassified State Department documentation (obtained through the repeated filing of FOIA requests by investigator Stan Gordon) indicate that careful tabs are indeed kept on all the hardware hitting the ground in far-off places. A memo sent to the State Department from the American embassy in Buenos Aires in February 1984 dutifully reports the reentry of "what may have been a satellite" 70 kilometers from the town of Ayacucho. The memo also states the size and shape of the object and solicits guidance from Washington in determining if it is indeed a U.S. or Soviet satellite. In this case, the reply to the memo indicates that it appears that the object was not "one of ours" and that "authorities do not know what the identity of the object could be."

Across the Atlantic Ocean, Spain has also experienced its share of man-made UFOs amid some of the richest case histories in the study of the phenomenon. Vicente Juan Ballester-Olmos and Juan Fernández Peris's monumental Enciclopedia de los Encuentros Cercanos con OVNIS (Encyclopedia of UFO Close Encounters) carefully points out a listing of cases described as "pseudo-ufo's"--355 cases spanning both Portugal and Spain and whose real explanations lay far from outer space: from meteorites, promotional devices, and weather balloons to a motley assortment of truck
tires, marine algae, and in a Barcelona case, the drivers of a Red Cross ambulance. "To account for the thousand and one stimuli that can--and do--deceive the senses, or the processes conductive to imagining UFOs, illustrates the importance of erroneous interpretation to the UFO phenomenon as a whole," declare the authors. However, the catalogue lists 230 cases that correspond to bona fide unknown phenomena of possible nonterrestrial origin.