This article was published in the daily newspaper El Tribuno, Salta, Argentina, on July 2, 2003.
Three unidentified flying objects (UFOs) of great size and brilliance were seen on June 24th in the location of Cachi (Salta), 157 km southeast of the provincial capital and at an elevation of 2210 meters above sea level.
The strange bodies were videotaped by Antonio Zuleta, an indefatigable researcher of these mysteries, which are exceptionally recurrent in this part of the province, after receiving a warning from a teacher who phoned him to witness the details of the peculiar celestial airshow.
Oddly enough, June 24th had been declared "World UFO Sightings Day" by the various organizations devoted to the study of these affairs. "The time was 19:30 hours when I saw it," said art instructor Maria del Valle Plaza, who teaches at the Payogasta school and in the "Victorino de la Plaza" school in this community. Married and a mother of three, she said that it was "incredible... fantastic. That's why I immediately got in touch with Mr. Zuleta so that he could videotape them. The UFOs appeared behind the western hills. The first one to emerge was enormous in size.
"It gave off lights of different colors and moved slowly, without making a sound. I was coming back from doing my job, all alone, along Route 33 between Payogasta and Cachi, from which I was no more than 3 km distant. I pulled my car over, took out my cell phone and called Zuleta, who came to my observation point and brought his equipment along," said the educator.
"I never thought I'd witness anything like it, despite having been born here," she added. "After receiving higher education, I came back here after many years of absence, and to have the privilege of seeing these fantastic and mysterious lights of which I'd heard so many stories since childhood. After the first UFO appeared, it was followed by another two, which also crossed the skies. They suddenly remained still. Their light was intense and shifting, but it didn't hurt the eyes. They were there as if within hands' reach. Motionless, as though they were looking at us from their interior. I was spellbound and amazed. At no time did I feel any fear. I only wanted to strain my eyes to see into the core of those objects, which suddenly, propelled by a strong and powerful force, vanished at breathtaking speed over the horizon," said Marķa de Valle.
