UFOs in the daily Press:

Ten More Dead Sheep

All of the animals were bitten on the neck and there are no clear explanations as to their deaths.

Juan Antonio Abarzúa de El Tribuno

Roque Desiderio Lera could not shake off his amazement yesterday: no sooner had he gotten out of bed, he checked his flock of sheep and faced a terrible surprise: 10 of the animals were dead, and four more struggled for life amid puddles of blood.

The events that led to the killings probably took place between the early morning hours and sunrise in the El Quipon area, 3 km north of Cachi, on the banks of the Calchaqui River. Despairing voer the loss of his cattle, the shepherd, age 42, immediately alerted the authorities, who sent out a team to determine the reasons behind the odd and fierce attack.

Also in attendance was veterinarian Carlos Arjona, who had examined the carcasses of the three bloodless goats found on Wednesday, showing injuries caused by the strange and prominent incisiors of "an unknown animal" in Fuerte Alto, 5 km west of El Quipon, at the feet of El Nevado de Cachi.

These cases add the necessary amount of fuel with which to stoke the flames that feed the Chupacabras myth.

In the case involving the goats, despite the expert's opinions and the eyewitness accounts on the facts (one claims having seen a strange hairy biped standing 80 cm tall, and another claimed having found prints of a two-toed animal), Sheriff Tomas Oscar Lopez called the case closed, believing that the deaths had been caused by pumas who descend from higher elevations at this time of year, given the difficulty of finding food due to the intense snowfall.

The police is convinced that the animals at El Quipon were attacked by "large dogs", although a tracker and backwoodsman, Ramon Mamani - known for his abilities as a "gaucho" told El Tribuno that "such a theory is impossible."

Mamani noted that "the deaths of ten animals and the serious injuries infliced to another for cannot have been produced by one, two, three or four dogs, but at least 20. I know every inch of the hills, gorges and open areas of Cachi, Molinos, and La Poma and have never seen nor heard stories of packs of wild dogs in the area." The tracker, accompanied by UFO researcher Antonio Zuleta--who has colleceted suprising videotapes of UFOs in the Chalquian skies--engaged in a footprint-seeking task to find clues which could unravel the mystery of the slaughter of Roque Desiderio Lera's flock.

"We found strange tracks," said the gaucho, "similar to those found at Fuerte Alto, although somewhat smaller (those only measured 12 inches long). I can assure you that they are not dog tracks."

Veterinarian Carlos Arjona, however, disputed Mamani's point of view, noting that the tracks belonged to a dog of plantigrade characteristics arising from a deformation. Meanwhile the succession of similar events--in less than a week, a mutilated cow, three bloodless goats, 10 brutally slaughtered goats and four savagely bitten at the neck--have kept the population on the alert, especially those who live in outlying agricultural and livestock regions. Many of them, like Maria Laura Liendro of Fuerte Alto, have chosen to transfer their animals to lower and safer areas. Roque Desiderio Lera has taken a more radical approach: he will remain on guard with his shotgun loaded.