On the morning of August 2, 1995, my television is by chance set to display teletext pages of the Suisse Romande Swiss TV channel, and I read the following news:
A crew of Aerolineas Argentinas and ground aviation officials observed a luminous object that approached the plane as it prepared to land at the Bariloche airport, about 870 miles from Buenos Aires. Captain Jorge Polanco told reporters that all the lights of the airport and its surroundings turned of when the object went and he was landing. Staff at the control tower reported that all their instruments had started to behave strangely at the same time. Ground observers say that the UFO appeared to have lights on his belly.
I was of course not the only one to learn the news:
Author: Thierry (UFOCOM)
While people all over the world were discussing the autopsy of a hypothetical E.T. whom " vessel " would have crashed near Roswell base in New-Mexico (USA) on July 1947, while everybody tried to judge the whole UFO file on the basis of this only affair, and while most UFOlogists consequently stopped breathing, significant events took place in 1995 on our "good old planet" and in its "suburb"...
On August 2nd, 1995, in the morning, I got an interesting phone call from my father. Before going on, I must say that he is not paying too much attention to UFOs and related phenomenon. As most people, his sources of information are the media. But given his son's interests, he became more vigilant...
In his phone call, he mentioned to me that he read the news page from the teletext (text information diffused by the tv stations) of the RTBF (Radio Télévision Belge Francophone). Something strange was written concerning the observation of a UFO in Argentina. There were supposedly hundreds of witnesses. I do not get access to teletext on my TV set, and it is not possible to record it via a VCR, so I asked him to use a camcorder to shoot directly the TV screen. He did it and brought me the cassette.
Indeed, the redactors of the news described the extraordinary phenomenon to which an Argentine airliner was exposed above the San Bernardino de Bariloche civil airport. This place is a winter resort located in the South of Argentina, on the first slopes of the Andes.
I thus called the teletext service at the RTBF and asked them to send me a copy of the original press release they were quoting. I wanted to know where did the information come from. I got their answer a couple of days later. In the meantime, I also called the Belgian press Agency "BELGA". Their answer came as a fax a few hours later. Here is the translation (from the French) of the original press release:
EXT012 3 GEN 0512 F BELGA-0026
ARGENTINA/ MISCELLANEOUS/
A flying saucer perturbed the air traffic at Bariloche airport.
SAN CARLOS DE BARILOCHE 02/08 (AFP) = On Monday morning, around ten eye-witnesses reported that, moving at high velocity and defying all known laws of physics, a white flying saucer perturbed the air traffic at the San Carlos de Bariloche airport, located 1 800 km S-W of Buenos-Aires, during 15 minutes on Monday to Tuesday night.
The observation stated on Monday at 23:30 GMT (Tuesday 01H30 HB) while Aérolinas Argentinas flight 674, en route from Buenos Aires with 102 passengers and 3 crew members was on final approach to land on the runway of Bariloche airport, an in vogue winter resort located on the first slopes of the Andes.
"The pilot of the plane had to accomplish a desperate escape maneuver not to collide with an unidentified flying object (UFO)" said several members of the Argentine military air forces. These testimonies were confirmed by Major Jorge Oviedo himself who "also saw a UFO" and who stated that "a power failure occurred at the same time in the city and all recording and measure apparatus at the airport were jammed". Several inhabitants claimed they saw the UFO just before the power failure.
"We were 15 minutes away from landing at Bariloche. The local air traffic controller gave us clearance for initiating the instrument landing procedure. We came down from level 120 (i.e. 12,000 feet) to level 30 (i.e. 3,000 feet; around 1,000 meters) said pilot Jorge Polanco.
"As I was initiating final descent, I saw suddenly a white light in front of the plane, moving at high speed directly towards us before stopping instantly around 100 meters away. When I re-initiated the approach procedure, the object turned in a strange way to accompany our descent turn and kept a trajectory parallel to that of the plane, still 100 meters away " said the pilot.
"My plane was working properly, but after a while, the color of the saucer (the size of which was comparable to that of a liner), shifted. Two green lights at the extremities and a slowly flashing orange one at the center appeared ", he added.
"As I was almost landing, the runway lights and those of the airport shut off at once. I therefore had to apply full throttle to climb again to 3 000 feet, tempting to perform an escape maneuver, but always accompanied by the UFO, which eventually climbed at a supernatural speed. I did not believe my eyes and I was very anxious, as were my fellow crew members " added Polanco who stated that " the UFO was not moving in accordance with known laws of nature and physics ".
"When the lights came back, I initiated again the final decent. The UFO then disappeared at very high speed towards CERRO OTTO (a local mountain) ", concluded the pilot, who admitted he stayed " five minutes in the pilot cabin feeling sick once on the ground ".
An investigation has been open to try to determine the origin of the mysterious flying object./.MTH
./. 020846 AUG 95
The information was reported in the 1:00 o'clock news session on RTBF TV and radio and on RTL-TVI, a private TV channel in Belgium (sort of equivalent of French TF1). Then, nothing else was said... Never...
On the next day, I faxed to the Argentina Embassy in Brussels to get a confirmation of the news and, if possible, additional details and commentaries. The Ambassador counselor answered me. He said that he can only confirm the facts presented in the press release. No other comments. I wrote once more to the Embassy but did not hear from them anymore. I also sent a press release to over 50 journals, radios or TV channels but got no reaction.
Irritated by the general indifference, I got in touch with N.M., a columnist working for the French private TV channel TF1 and asked him whether he knew about this strange story. He knew as much as I did. Neither more, nor less. But he said he will inquire.
Three weeks later, I met with N.M. He told me that he got some additional data on Bariloche since one of his colleague investigated this case very seriously. He asked me whether I would like to meet him. Gee! Yes, of course!
This is how I talked for the first time to H.M., over the phone. I had the opportunity to send several documents to TF1, upon request from N.M., so I really had good relationships with N.M.
H.M. told me a few things about his investigation. I have to say that this guy did an excellent job and that he benefited from unusual funding from the TV station to do so. He had no obligation whatsoever to share with me parts of his results. Jacques Pradel, one of most popular hosts of TF1 talk shows, was quite a lucky dog to have people like him in his team. I am neither a fan, nor a habitual spectator of his shows. However, I was very perplexed by the movie of the dissection of the so-called "Roswell E.T.", presented in one of Pradel's shows. But this is another story...
H.M. essentially learnt me that what happened in Bariloche was not limited to this only city. There was indeed a wealth of observations all over Southern Argentina. He promised to send me a summary and a copy of his whole file. I received these documents a few days later. All the data below come from his file and result from the investigation of this young and highly motivated clone of Dan Rather! I am therefore not at the origin of this work.
On July 31, 1995, a UFO prevented two planes from landing at San Carlos de Bariloche airport (1800 km S-W of Buenos Aires). The first plane was a Boeing 727 from Aérolinas Argentinas (flight 674) with 102 passengers et 3 crew members on board. The second was a plane from the Argentine " Guardia Civil " with 7 persons (including the pilot) on board. The pilot of flight 674, while preparing to land, had to execute a desperate escape maneuver to avoid colliding with an UFO. During the 15 minutes that lasted the phenomenon, the UFO followed a flight path parallel to that of the Boeing, ca. 100 meter away. Almost all passengers of flight 674 supposedly saw the phenomenon. However, the air company refused to release a list of their names.
The most important witnesses were:
- The pilot of the 727, Jorge Polanco. He leaves in Buenos Aires and may have met a columnist to tell him his story. He claimed that 3 pilots plus one flight technician saw the phenomenon, but did not want to give their names. He should have been in London on September 13 to be interviewed by the BBC. The journalist in charge of this file was Penelope Kront. The meeting never took place since this Lady only offered the plane tickets, the hotel accommodation plus 500 US$. However, one TV channel from the US West Coast might have succeeded in interviewing the pilot. He did not give any additional information and asked any "interested" people to get in touch with his lawyer, Dr. Luis Careri.
- Major Jorge Luis Oviedo. He claimed he did not see anything in spite of the information contained in the press release. During the interview with my friend H.M., he explained that he was having radio-contact with the liner when the phenomenon occurred. The man avoids all publicity.
- The pilot of the plane from the "Guardia Civil" (Immigration Police Air Force), Ruben Cipuzak. He leaves in Buenos Aires and would accept to testify. He said that the Argentine Government and Military Authorities are not really interested in these kinds of phenomenon.
Cutral Co:
On August 11, 1995, a school teacher and a fireman of the City of Cutral Co, located 900 km S-W of Buenos Aires, claimed that they saw and even taped a UFO that was "flying" at a very low altitude. According to Luis Luna, the school teacher, a power failure occurred while the phenomenon passed over town. In his statement, he said he would have seen a very bright, blinking blue light which was getting closer. The "machine" went down to three meters above ground level and stayed still for a few seconds there. Other witnesses, fireman Imaël Paro and his wife, also said that they saw a similar phenomenon. When they wanted to drive closer to it, the engine of their car did not started. Over 100 people confirmed these testimonies: some even stated that they saw a "door" opening...
The main witnesses are:
- Fireman Ismaël Paro. He accepted to testify over the phone. The interview was recorded. He confirmed the data from the AFP press release. Furthermore, he also mentioned to H.M. that the "object" was ca. 50 m (170 feet) long. If a team of journalists wants to go to Cutral Co, he would accept to repeat what he said in front of a camera.
- Luis Luna (the school teacher) and his wife Irma Almonavit. They confirmed over the phone having seen the phenomenon. Ms. Almovit taped the intense and changing blue light. They agreed on testifying in front of a camera under the same conditions than the first witness, Mr. Paro.
- A local TV channel, Cutral Co Communications, which reported on this phenomenon.
Caleta Olivia:
In Caleta Olivia, province of Santa-Cruz, a camera-man, Pablo Muesca, claimed that he taped a UFO during the night of August 16, 1995. He works for a local city TV channel. Zooming on the phenomenon, he would have observed changing lights (red, blue and yellow) as well as a strange cubic shape. A 65-year old man, Senor Zavaletta, might also have experienced an abduction on July 14. While he was walking in the countryside, he suddenly find himself sleepy. "A cloud came, and I saw an E.T. with an abundant hair system, the color of which being that of copper. I then felt a sort of pinch in one of the fingers of my left hand. The entity disappeared and I had the feeling that I was flying. I realized that I have been sleeping for half an hour, and that I was about two km away from the place I believe I was originally". He then walked for the whole night and was found by the Police on the next day. Indeed, family members, anxious not to see him, had call the local Police Authorities.
Unfortunately, this piece of information has not been confirmed and does not bring sufficient data to justify a direct investigation. At the end of his report, and as a conclusion, H.M. wrote:
-"Argentina is poor a country. Though I have no reason to challenge the honesty of the interviewed people, most of those to whom I talked over the telephone were interested in "good" money as a partial compensation for their possible contribution to our program (note: H.M. is investigating for French TV channel TF1). Jorge Polanco, the pilot of the 727, might have negotiated his interview at the BBC for 20,000 US$. According to the pilot's lawyer, this money was meant to be sent to a "child care" association. On another hand, Luis Luna, the school teacher whose wife taped the UFO in Cutral Co, said he was disturbed by the fact that some people may make "big bucks" with his movie without sharing with him some of this money."
-"As a conclusion, I should state once more that the above remarks do not imply that the reported observations are counterfeit. The investigation is just rendered more difficult and slow-going by the venality of some of the witnesses, even though this can be understood. I keep thinking that the reported events and phenomenon are of the utmost interest and deserve further investigation."
This is the end of the report sent by the TF1 investigator to his boss. In spite of the "unusual" features reported in this document, these were not even briefly mentioned on TV media. Not a single word. And a short time later, the Roswell file was re-open by a British producer, Raymond Santilli... From this time, only the smoke was visible but the spark disappeared.
I do not know what happened to H.M. and what he is doing now. In April 96, during a phone conversation with the French writer Gildas Bourdais, a UFOlog and a specialist of the Roswell file, this later mentioned to me that the TV show for which H.M. was working was officially withdrawn from the next season programs. Obviously, the "unsolved mysteries" are not doing any good to the private channel TF1.
All pieces of information gathered by H.M. were presented in Argentine newspapers. However, if you get in touch with the Belgian Bureau of Aérolinas Argentinas to obtain more data on this issue, people will only "walk the dog" in front of you. The same is true at the Argentine Embassy in Brussels.
Hundreds of witnesses, including "official" have reported similar facts. Then you get a complete "black-out". As usually. And you, who are reading these lines now, don't you fell any resentment towards your media which seem to choose for you the information that will "suit you best"? Don't you want to say " Stop it, now! We want the truth! We are not kids anymore and we are mature enough to deal with a truth that may determine our future and that of our children". This would be legitimate.
A Boeing experienced a near-miss with a UFO while it was ready to land and nobody in the media is interested in the news. Let me laugh: it sounds like a biiiiig joke! And this does not resist long to a critical examination. Or course, in the meantime, people were fighting in Bosnia...
Is it right to leave so many questions unanswered? How could a movie shot by a professional camera-man never be shown to people while in the meantime Santilli sold worldwide a tape of a hypothetical autopsy of one of the beings allegedly recovered in a crashed E.T. vehicle in the desert of New Mexico in 1947.
Meanwile, one scares the people with social problems and international tension. Meanwhile also, I fight some windmills with the help of a few modern Don Quijotes. But the millers should be careful, one day their time will be over...
I would like to quote Christian de Duve, Nobel Prize in Medicine, the author of a superb book published by Fayard, and entitled "Poussière de Vie" ("Dust of life"): "L'univers n'est pas le cosmos inerte des physiciens, doté d'un petit peu de vie pour faire bonne mesure. L'Univers est "vie" (italiques de l'auteur), avec autour les infrastructures nécessaires ; il consiste en premier lieu en des milliers de milliards de biosphères engendrées et nourrie par le reste." This can be translated approximatively to "The Universe is not the inert cosmos described by the physicists, with bites of life as a complement. The universe is "life" (quotation marks by the author), surrounded by all necessary infrastructures. It consists primarily in billions of billions of biospheres engendered and fed by the rest [of the cosmos]"
As a consequence, all the privileged witnesses of a UFO phenomenon might well be right. From now on, only the dumbs and the idiots will make fun of the E.T. hypothesis. On the other side, the debunkers can be regarded either as people with over-developed self-esteem or as perfectly conscious, cold-blooded dangerous persons. At this point of our investigations, everything is better than the silence.
Latest data on the investigation as per June 27, 1996:
After 10 months of investigation, we discovered that Bariloche is not only a famous winter resort. It is also the home of one of the most top-secret sites of Argentina since it hosts the Balseiro Institute, a Nuclear Research Center and the CONAE (Commission Nacional de Investigaciones Espaciales). This later has very tight links with ESA (European Spatial Agency), and with their American (NASA) and Russian counterparts.
I must say also that CONAE works in close collaboration with the CNES (National Center for Space Research) in Toulouse (France). This institution also hosts the SEPRA (Service d'Expertises des Phénomènes de Rentrées Atmosphériques) which has been replacing the "defunct" GEPAN (Groupe d'Etudes des Phénomènes Aériens Non-identifiés; Research Group on Unidentified Atmospheric Phenomenon) for circa 10 years...
Once more, it seems that the UFO are quite deeply interested in the military and scientific facilities of our good old blue planet... with extra-care given to space research. If you like web-surfing, and if this file is exciting you, may I advise you to access a search engine such as Alta Vista or yahoo, and to type in the keyword "Bariloche".
You'll be surprised to find out how many entries are devoted to this "only" winter resort of Southern Argentina. Soon, you'll also find valuable data on the Nuclear Research Center, the CONAE project, etc. Do not hesitate to follow the links towards NASA and other Space Agencies all over the world. The mere existence of these links is more than enlightening.
This file also triggers interrogations. Why putative ET would need to get directly over one site to study it? So, such "people" should benefit from a fabulous technology allowing them to travel light years across the Universe but would not be able to spy on us from a remote place, as were doing USA or USSR years ago? Isn't this one of the most illogical aspect in all UFO files?
I believe that most "professional" UFOlogists under-estimate the technological capability of mankind, either because of a lack of data or because they want to keep their "business" and their "personal" aura.
Once more, the citizens and you, dear readers, will pay the bill! This has to be taken both literally or in a more imaged way. You, who try to know, will keep on feeding the (hidden?) accounts of various patented associations.
Of course, this type of reasoning does not imply that there are no advanced ET civilizations somewhere in the cosmos. But it is time now to interrogate ourselves on the incredibly high frequency of UFO observations and on the very own nature of the phenomenon.
It is reasonable to speculate that each and every observation of a UFO on this planet is not related to an "exotic" technology developed by clever (very clever indeed!) people from "abroad". Because they appear to be so many and so present, because they obviously benefit from a fantastic technology, these guys should already be everywhere on Earth, and should already have developed logistic means that could not remain hidden from our view.
On another hand, if Man had developed something resembling the "flying saucers", this could explain a lot of the illogical points presented above, but fortunately or unfortunately, not all these points. We therefore now have to ask the right questions...
