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.
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.
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.
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
