OVNI. Guatemala

Source: Prensa Libre

Date: 05.01.2022

Article by Alejandro Ortiz

Guatemala: The 1970s – A Decade of Extraterrestrial Events in Guatemala and South America

During the 1970s there were several news items about such events in Guatemala and South American nations such as Perú, Venezuela and Argentina. A survey of periodicals collections has yielded several accounts and news events from those days.

One such news story from 50 years ago, in September 1972, dealt with Eduardo Mendoza, an electronics expert who claimed to be the only person authorized by APRO (Aerial Phenomena Research Organization) to investigate the UFO phenomenon and to cover the Guatemala region in all matters concerning unidentified flying objects.

Mendoza told Prensa Libre that there were traces of the alien presence in such places as Salamá, Flores, Escuintla, Quetzaltenango and the race track in the capital city’s northern area.

Mendoza also said that a resident of Atitlán had seen and photographed a flying saucer in that locality. According to the story in Prensa Libre, the Amatitlán resident had advised APRO of the alleged abduction of a Guatemalan woman by “beings from another world.” He added that there were photographs in existence which showed flying saucers over the Pacaya and San José Pinula volcanoes.

 In another article published in January 1972 by Prensa Libre, the story of a young man named Rolando Castillo Valenzuela, a resident of Zone 1 in the capital area, became known. He had witnessed flying saucers from his own terrace while in the company of his children.

The story goes on to add that by then, Castillo had already experienced “unusual communication with alleged beings from other worlds” who advised him of their visits to Guatemala and “their peaceful intentions toward beings on Earth.”

The young man explained that the aliens told him that they could not land on Earth very often “or for an indefinite period of time, as there was a microorganism in Earth’s atmosphere” which had been developed and put their lives in jeopardy. For this reason, “they could only land for a few minutes to insure their own safety”.

In the 1970s, much the same as in Guatemala, but more “explicitly”, unusual events became known in South America.

Most notable among these is an article from July 1971 saying how the remains of a UFO had fallen on the slopes of a mountain in Perú, producing “a tremendous report in a seventy kilometer radius.”

There was also a story from Perú saying that a couple had “witnessed the descent of two crewmen from a UFO”. According to this story from 1976, the Peruvians were patted on the back by the beings, who later disappeared.

“They were human-looking. They had two powerful lanterns which they used to blind us and curtail our vision,” said Leoncio Jara Torres, 55 years old at the time, to an international news agency.

Venezuela has also recorded similar happenings by peasants who claimed having seen extraterrestrial beings standing “two meters tall, wearing a sort of dark belt and blue goggles.”

Moreover, Argentina also yielded stories related to this phenomenon. A 28-year-old railroad worker told international news agencies that he had been “paralyzed by a beam” that had kept him from screaming but still “allowed him to see.” At that moment, he felt as though he was being absorbed into “a sphere without furniture and with walls seemingly made of plastic.”

[Translation © 2023 INEXPLICATA with thanks to Alejandro Ortiz and Prensa Libre]