Report forwarded by Dr. Virgilio Sanchez-Ocejo

 

© UFOINFO

Dr. Virgilio Sanchez-Ocejo
Miami UFO Center
ufomiami@prodigy.net
3-16-03

Northern Chile has begun witnessing a new wave of UFO sightings
in recent days. There have been reports of people seeing strange
flying objects on a daily basis within the past two weeks. Last
Sunday, February 23rd of 2003, many people on the streets of
Calama saw a bright object flying across the city. Another
similar object appeared during the following morning. Many
skeptics believed these were weather balloons; however, some of
these objects were very bright and appeared to suddenly change
speed and direction. There have been daily reports of these
objects almost everywhere in the city of Calama.

The first flying object was seen in different parts of the city,
as well as San Pedro of Atacama, near Route CH-25. Many
residents saw the bright object near the airport, flying so fast
that it disappeared. Nevertheless, the object seemed to reappear
again several times, and in different locations. Many
eyewitnesses even had time to go get their binoculars to get a
better look at it. Those with binoculars reported that the
object was circular, bright, and it appeared to change colors
from yellow to red.

A local television news channel began broadcasting live images
of the object at approximately 3:30 PM. The live video coverage
ended at 5:30 PM. According to the news reporters and cameramen,
the object changed its flight course several times; in fact, by
the end of the live broadcast, it had already flown from north
to south and east to west covering the majority of the city
area. The Office of Civil Protection issued a statement with
regards to this strange event. They announced that due to the
lack of information, they were not sure what the object was.

A young boy said he saw a similar object on February the 11th,
at approximately 4:00 PM. He described the UFO as looking like
an eye. The boy claims that he saw the bright object as he was
standing outside of his house. According to him, the sighting
lasted about three minutes. During an interview with Calama UFO
Center, the boy indicated that the object flew at a slow speed
from south to north. The object later disappeared into what he
described as an S-shaped cloud or contrail.

On Sunday, February the 23rd, at 6:55 AM, while waiting at a bus
stop, two labor contractors saw yet another similar object. One
of the gentlemen by the name of Omar Acevedo, was interviewed by
Calama UFO Center. He described the object as flying very slow.
It was seen at about 10 kilometers from the hills in the west
side of Calama. According to Mr. Acevedo, it was a yellow
sphere, which moved from south to north, in an area where no
commercial airplanes fly. He s absolutely sure that it was no
airplane. During that time, the sun was not out yet. Therefore
the object was emitting its own light; it was not the reflection
of the sun. It was no weather balloon either, he said; the
object appeared to be traveling against the direction of the
wind.

On Monday, February 24 of 2003, at approximately 09:35 PM,
another object was seen flying in a rectilinear pattern, moving
from northwest to southeast. It flew slightly faster than a
commercial airliner. The object was spherical in shape and
bright yellow. It did not appear to emit flashes or any other
light patterns. This particular object was also seen very far
from any commercial aircraft routes. Another similar object was
seen near the Calama Hills by a warehouse employee by the name
Enrique Cortez. However, this particularly object seem to change
colors from red to yellow, approximately every 10 seconds.

Roberto Troncoso Rodriguez, a 20-year-old asphalt-processing
plant worker in Calama, reported seeing another bright object in
the south side of the city. He was among 10 other eyewitnesses
at the asphalt plant that reported seeing the same object on
February the 22nd, at approximately 3 in the afternoon. Roberto
said that the silver-colored object appeared to be spinning on
its own axis. The object stayed spinning in the same location
for a few minutes without traveling in any direction.

Roberto is a civil engineer assistant and he s very
knowledgeable when it comes to calculating distances,
particularly because his road construction team delivers and
applies asphalt to highways on a daily basis it is part of his
job to calculate distances and pavement estimates. According to
him, the object was at an altitude of about 1500 meters. He also
mentioned that the object emitted a strong light that at times,
it was so bright that prevented the object from being seen.
During other instances, the object would disappear for a few
seconds. Rodriguez also mentioned that the object would
sometimes change its shape from spherical to oval. Then, it
would suddenly disappear. I don t know what particular kind of
weather balloon can do these things, he said.

REPORTS OF HUMANOID CREATURES AND OTHER BIZARRE PHENOMENA

In the days before, and during the recent UFO sightings in the
region, there have been other phenomena reported by the local
news media. Last Sunday, a woman from a nearby village said
during a radio interview, that she saw another round object
flying at very low altitude about 4 feet from the ground.
According to her, the object came very close to her and tried to
take her away by using some kind of force to pull her towards
it. She said that she managed to avoid being taken by holding on
to a small tree until the object finally gave up and left.

On Sunday, February the 23rd, brothers Francisco and José
Carrizo, reported seeing a humanoid creature as they were
arriving home. According to them, the creature was dark and it
looked more like a humanoid shadow, rather than just a humanoid
being. It was on top of the roof. It made a loud noise when it
jumped to the lower roof, said Francisco. Our mother was very
frightened because she had been listening to it running around
the roof for a few minutes before we arrived. José mentioned
that they live in a location where animal mutilations have
occurred before.

Previously and in the same area, a coal miner by the name of
Luis Sepulveda saw another strange creature. On November 28 of
last year, at approximately 3:30 AM, Mr. Sepulveda and his co-
workers were preparing their tools and mining equipment before
going to a mining facility known as La Banda, located at about
40 meters from the Loa River.

Since there were no bathrooms available because we hadn’t set up
our camp site yet, I had to go to the woods to urinate behind
the trees. I walked about 15 meters into the woods. The area was
not completely dark; there seemed to be a little bit of
moonlight. Suddenly, at about 3 meters away from me, out of the
corner of my eye, I saw what appeared to be a small tree moving
from side to side, as if the wind was hitting it. But then, I
realized that there was no wind at all; therefore that tree
shouldn’t have been moving. I decided to turn around to take a
better look at it, but what I saw was so eerie and bizarre that
I think I will never forget it. It was no tree at all. It was a
dark hairy creature mimicking a tree, with its arms wide open
and moving its upper body from side to side just like trees do,
said Sepulveda.

There had been dozens of different types of strange creatures
reported in the area, but never before we had received reports
of creatures mimicking trees. The hairy humanoid creature that
Mr. Sepulveda saw appeared to be disguising itself as a tree
when it noticed his presence in the area. It appeared to be
camouflaging itself like some reptiles and insects do to avoid
being found by predators. Despite the fact that Sepulveda
realized, after taking a better look, that it had no leaves or
branches, the creature continued to mimic a tree. It was well-
hidden and located among the bushes, so without looking at it
directly, it would have appeared to be just like any other tree
to the ordinary eye.

STRANGE AIRCRAFT

Since previous months, during many animal mutilation cases,
there have been many strange-looking aircraft in the area. Some
of these aircraft fit the typical manmade visual
characteristics, just like any other ordinary airplane or
helicopter. However, there are others that are not so ordinary.
Sometimes, there might be unmarked black helicopters or
airplanes in the area. Additionally, there have been many
eyewitnesses that report seeing black flying triangles that
hardly look manmade at all. On Wednesday, the 26th of February,
our associate Jaime Ferrer, videotaped a strange looking
aircraft. Jaime believes that the flying craft was manmade
because of it speed, and because it emitted a sound similar to a
jet engine; however, the engine seemed to be very quiet at least
half as noisy as an average jet engine.

The object originally appeared to be a solid white light, but
six times bigger than the brightest star. As it was flying by,
the light soon split into two lights. Then, ten seconds later,
it divided itself into three lights, and so on until there were
5 white lights and a red light. The aircraft flew into the
mountains outside the city, where no aircraft dare go due to the
dangers of terrain.

The bizarre UFO and strange aircraft activity continues on a
daily basis in Northern Chile. There are many reports still
being filed of people seeing strange flying objects, and in some
cases, sightings of strange-looking helicopters present in the
same area where the UFOs appear. Due to the incredible increase
of reports, the Calama UFO Center has maintained a daily sky
vigil, with camcorders and digital cameras ready to respond to
the continuing wave of strange sightings. On Friday, February
the 28th, at approximately 12:15 PM, Jaime Ferrer videotaped an
unmarked helicopter flying around the entire city for several
hours. Although it was no black helicopter, it did appear to
have different colors than the ones that usually fly in the
area, which most of the times belong to the local mining
companies. The helicopter cabin appeared to be bright silver-
colored and its tail was black. Nevertheless, it flew and
sounded just like any other helicopter. However, what was
unusual about it was the time of the day it was flying, and how
it appeared to be looking for something all over the city and
its outskirts.

MORE UFOs AND STRANGE ACTIVITY AT THE AIRPORT

On March the 5th, 2003, several people reported seeing another
UFO near the local airport in Calama, Chile. The object appeared
in broad daylight, yet it was bright enough to be quite
noticeable by a great number of people in different parts of the
city. The first report came from people standing at a bus stop
next to the Ekono Supermarket, in the northeast area of Calama.
Each eyewitness mentioned that the object appeared to be a
white, about the same size as what the planet Venus looks like
in the sky, but several times brighter.

According to eyewitnesses, the bright object appeared and then
it would disappear in a synchronized manner every 5 to 10
seconds, apparently without moving in any direction. The UFO
sighting lasted about 3 minutes.

Another eyewitness, a taxi driver by the name of Carlos reported
seeing the same object from the opposite side of the city the
Southwest of Calama, in a neighborhood called Caspana. These
sightings have been happening so often and for the most part, in
the same area, which causes many people to joke around and call
that area ovnipuerto, meaning UFO Airport or landing base.

During the recent UFO wave that has been taking place since mid
February in Calama, there have been additional sightings of
strange looking humanoid creatures, appearing mostly at night. A
group of catholic school students, most of them about 15 years
of age, reported seeing a strange being near their house. The
strange noises on the rooftops and in their backyards at night
reminded them of a previous sighting two years ago, when they
saw a strange figure standing about 1.2 meters tall. The being
appeared to move around not by walking, but by making small
leaps.

Aside from the UFO wave still in effect, the airport authorities
have decided to close down the airport for approximately the
entire month of June. Officials have issued a press release
stating that the airport will be remodeled and the runway will
be expanded in order to receive international flights and
accomodate bigger types of aircraft, including from private
organizations.

Reports gathered by Jaime Ferrer

Translation by Mario Andrade

UFOINFO would like to thank Dr. Virgilio Sanchez-Ocejo, Miami UFO Center and UFO UpDates for granting permission to use this article.

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