The Dique La Florida CE-3 UFO Case - Argentina, 1978.

Quite a number of extremely strange close range UFO reports from the South American continent over the years but even with official UFO investigative organisations like CEFAA, DIFAA, CRIDOVNI etc. publishing their research it's still difficult finding English language info online about specific case histories (or even to be aware of them at all) - especially since closure of websites like UFOUpdates.

Below is one interesting example found referenced in the research of NICAP's Richard Hall and involves six witnesses encountering a highly unusual multi-coloured domed disc (and occupant) at 'Florida Nautical Club' in Argentina, February 4th, 1978.


UFO Occupant Sightings Richard H. Hall (Based on information contained in The UFO Evidence, Vol. II.)


It also pops up in this article concerning official Argentinian Military/Government communiques:

The Seven Official declarations made by the Argentinian Government


1978: On the evening of February 4 at the La Florida dam in San Luis, six persons report the presence of a UFO and the descent of an occupant from within, leaving ground marks. The Police Precinct of San Luis, through its chief, Lt.Col. Raul Benjamín López, issues a document which constitutes the fourth official acknowledgment.


Argentinean Military's Role in UFO Research

Apparently the CE3 case involved physical trace evidence and resulted in the first official report on an occupant 'walkabout' from the Provincial Police and Argentinean Army - the research / translation work of folks like Robert Gribble (MUFON Journal  238), ONIFE's Fabio Zerpa and the IHU's Scott Corrales and Guillermo Giménez has been pretty invaluable on this one (so hats off to them).

Argentina: The Dique La Florida CE-3 


Official Report:




One of the most significant UFO events of the Republic of Argentina took place on 4 February 1978, when several competent witnesses witness the descent of a strange craft and the presence of a tall humanoid who left his prints on the ground. The research undertaken after this event determined its reality, and corroborated the footprints left behind by the occupant.

This incident – known as the Dique La Florida Case, in San Luis, Argentina, was supported by the investigative facilities of the Provincial Police of San Luis, headed at the time by Lt. Col. Raul Benjamin Lopez, who signed off on the first official report on a “walkabout” by a UFO occupant, representing both the Provincial Police and the Argentinean Army..

Media Coverage:

UFO:

They were illuminated by a powerful light, seeing it was an unidentified flying object – a metallic, solid device shaped like an upside-down saucer, projecting white light from its undersection and emerald green and red lights from its upper fuselage. It was suspended in mid-air over the sloping terrain leading to the water, some 3 meters over the ground, measuring some 15 meters in diameter. 

Occupant antics:

The object let down a small ladder (similar to that on a Fokker aircraft) and a humanoid form descended. It stood between 2-2.10 meters, wore a shiny, silvery, form-fitting uniform. The “man” wore a transparent helmet over his head, making visible his blonde hair and fine features. At no time did the witnesses see the entity’s feet, and were unsure as to any footgear. The entity’s identikit photo matches all descriptions provided. 

After descending the ladder, the entity walked over the terrain (or glided over it, not sure), which sloped downward and approached the edge of the lake, a scant 15 meters away from the fishermen. With as mile, the stranger placed his gloved hands (encased in what appeared to be mittens) in front of him, palms upward, in a characteristic friendship gesture and a yoga position (lotus flower). A universal gesture of giving. 

Following this gesture, the being turned on a heel and headed for the ladder. He climbed and re-entered the craft. The ladder retracted, and the opening that allowed it to descend to earth closed up. After 20-30 seconds, the vehicle rose into the air and vanished into the mountains of San Luis toward the northeast. Pedro Sosa.

Full Report

Cheeky footprints:







As if this case doesn't sound bizarre enough there are also claims in the article below about the occupant holding some sort of container (similar to a thermos) which was found during investigation - Police officers at the station later managed to pry it open but the liquid within it 'evaporated upon making contact with the air' - the object was then forwarded to the University of Córdoba for further study but went missing.

Also a possible MIB connection as it's stated researchers, police officers and town residents were 'alarmed by the movements' of two unknown individuals who visited the sighting area to examine the impressions left on the ground and collect information on the witnesses themselves (apparently the hotel owner was also 'surprised by the antics of these characters').

WERE ‘MEN IN BLACK’ INVESTIGATING ARGENTINIAN CLOSE ENCOUNTER?

INEXPLICATA Contributing Editor Guillermo Giménez has reminded us of a case that can be described as a “doubleheader” of high strangeness – a UFO sighting involving humanoid occupant with a bubble helmet (straight out of the contactee tradition) and follow-up visit by the nefarious MIB.

link

Links:

thecid.com...
www.visionovni.com.ar...
openmindsforum.forumotion.com...
www.thinkaboutitdocs.com...

a reply to: karl 12

Interesting case. Thanks for posting Karl. I wonder if the container was one of these:

a reply to: karl 12
If this happened recently at least we would have a good chance one or more of the eyewitnesses would have a smartphone with them to record what they actually saw.

I'm not sure how the witnesses figured out how tall the humanoid was. If it was just a guess, the guess could be way off. If it was say standing next to a road sign and they could say something like the top of the head was even with the top of the road sign or something like that, then they would have a way to calibrate, but even that method allows for some error if they think he's next to the road sign but in reality he could be in front of it or behind it, unless he had his hand on the road sign so you could really be sure he was next to it.

As if this case doesn't sound bizarre enough there are also claims in the article below about the occupant holding some sort of container (similar to a thermos) which was found during investigation - Police officers at the station later managed to pry it open but the liquid within it 'evaporated upon making contact with the air' - the object was then forwarded to the University of Córdoba for further study but went missing.

That is an interesting part of the story. I suppose universities need to take more care when they are provided with possible alien artifacts to make sure they don't lose them.

A couple of things that I wonder about:

Didn't the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" come out just before this sighting? I think it did, so I wonder if that might have had any influence. There was a spike in UFO reports in the UK after that movie came out in late 1977 and even more in 1978, which is probably not a coincidence.

What do you make of the "red and green" lights on the aircraft? Doesn't that sound familiar?

Maybe that palms-up gesture was the alien equivalent of "how they bitin'?"

originally posted by: Arbitrageur
What do you make of the "red and green" lights on the aircraft? Doesn't that sound familiar?

I suppose it would have been better if they described the lights as orange or blue or purple, but the fact they're similar to our earthly aircraft lights could just be a coincidence or if it was done on purpose, maybe they have an assortment of lights they use, and some of them are intended to mimic our lights to help them be relatively inconspicuous and keep ordinary airplanes from flying into them. I don't think the colors of the lights necessarily decrease the possible veracity of the encounter.

Did none of these guys experience any missing time or psychic disturbance or other psychological effects? These reports seem pretty nuts-and-bolts. Usually in cases like these, there's a high strangeness component, although depending on the investigators or the witnesses, they might not be officially noted.

originally posted by: Arbitrageur
Didn't the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" come out just before this sighting? I think it did, so I wonder if that might have had any influence. There was a spike in UFO reports in the UK after that movie came out in late 1977 and even more in 1978, which is probably not a coincidence.

In the House Of Lords, 18th January 1979, The Earl Of Kimberley stood up and reminded everyone that...

In 1977, Sir Eric Gairy, the Prime Minister of Grenada, backed by President Carter, wanted the United Nations to declare 1978 as the Year of the UFO. They both failed. However, the proposition was finally tabled for 29th September 1978. This proposition was postponed through October, November and December. It was finally threatened by the veto of the United States and Russia. Hopefully, however, it will now be considered in June of this year. I believe that at last there has been a unanimous vote that the proposition will not be rejected.

api.parliament.uk...

It never transpired, but the Earl most likely hadn't noticed that UK tabloids the previous year had already run with 1978 being the "Year Of The UFO" anyway. Was Spielberg an influence when his movie was released here in March 1978? I'd lay heavy bets on that being a big fat YES.

As a small starry-eyed kid leaving the cinema in Spring 1978, I was overjoyed when our form teacher (Mr Collins) the following Monday announced that we'd be studying UFOs for the next couple of months, and asked us to bring in all related press cuttings we could find - which were subsequently pinned to all four walls of the classroom. And a fascinating time was had by all!

a reply to: KKLOCO

Thanks for the post mate, also some interesting reading about occupant case histories involving behaviour (and fashion and accessories) in this book by James McCampbell :

www.nicap.org...

www.nicap.org...

originally posted by: Arbitrageur

Didn't the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" come out just before this sighting? I think it did, so I wonder if that might have had any influence.

Release date in Argentina was actually March 9th mate (over a month after the incident) but did think the Richard Hall link gave a good idea about the sheer number of global occupant cases reported - there's also a similar case from Lincolnshire in the same month reported in this chronology but it's a shame much of the info has now been taken down from the internet.

www.ignaciodarnaude.com...

originally posted by: Arbitrageur

There was a spike in UFO reports in the UK after that movie came out in late 1977 and even more in 1978, which is probably not a coincidence. 

Maybe the sceptic position has it backwards on that one and more people just felt secure, justified or empowered in submitting their reports (less scoffing and ridicule from cynics) - could be a case of art imitating life and not the other way round.

originally posted by: Blue Shift
Maybe that palms-up gesture was the alien equivalent of "how they bitin'?"

Ha god knows what's going on mate.

Here's another similar account from the 1940s (EM effects on police car also described).

Eyewitness sketch:

After covering a significant distance in the police car, their guide pointed out the possible impact site: There, some 200 meters away from the group, near a hill, was an exceedingly strange, glowing, disc-shaped object, which remained on the ground and in their sight. Surrounding the object was an undetermined number of figures that “came and went”.

At a distance, these being appeared to be very tall, clad in seemingly metallic and luminous outfits. They moved slowly and they carried in their hands what looked like “mugs”. We must imagine such a sight in the early 1940s.

THE FIRST HUMANOIDS IN ARGENTINA

originally posted by: Blue Shift

Usually in cases like these, there's a high strangeness component, although depending on the investigators or the witnesses, they might not be officially noted

Indeed there is mate although maybe the investigating police/military can be forgiven for overlooking some of the more bizarre aspects - especially if they've never looked into the subject for themselves or are unaware of similar cases.

Was pretty shocked myself at the high volume of UFO occupant reports from South America (some of them taken very seriously by the military) and if you or anyone else knows of any please post on this thread.

originally posted by: ConfusedBrit


In the House Of Lords, 18th January 1979, The Earl Of Kimberley stood up and reminded everyone that...

In 1977, Sir Eric Gairy, the Prime Minister of Grenada, backed by President Carter, wanted the United Nations to declare 1978 as the Year of the UFO..

Yes lots of people have said lots of things about UFOS mate - here's Kimberley again (and Rankeillour).

"UFOs defy worldly logic... The human mind cannot begin to comprehend UFO characteristics: their propulsion, their sudden appearance, their disappearance, their great speeds, their silence, their manoeuvre, their apparent anti-gravity, their changing shapes." 

Earl of Kimberly, House of Lords Debate on Unidentified Flying Objects, Jan. 18, 1979. 



"Many men have seen them [UFOs] and have not been mistaken. Who are we to doubt their word?... Only a few weeks ago a Palermo policeman photographed one, and four Italian Navy officers saw a 300-foot long fiery craft rising from the sea and disappearing into the sky... Why should these men of law enforcement and defense lie?" 

Lord Rankeillour, Member of the House of Lords 

link

Referencing your quote from Kimberley, below is more relevant info from 1978 in relation to the United Nations.

The file includes many pages detailing the British government's attempt in 1978 to derail the country of Grenada's plan to convince the United Nations to form a special UFO study committee. The reason these documents resonated so strongly with me is because I'm the one who produced Grenada's UFO presentation at the U.N. all those years ago. 

UK tried to stop worldwide UFO Investigation

Rare footage from United Nations UFO Conference - November 28th, 1978

originally posted by: karl 12

Referencing your quote from Kimberley, below is more relevant info from 1978 in relation to the United Nations.

A fascinating 8-year-old thread you linked to, mate. So many threads I still need to catch up on!

And especially interesting points made by Vallee in 1992 (who was there in 1978).

Governments took notice, organizing task forces, encouraging secret briefings and study groups, funding classified research and all the time denying before the public that any of the phenomena might be real. The major revelation of these Diaries may be the demonstration of how the scientific community was misled by the government, how the best data were kept hidden, and how the public record was shamelessly manipulated.

link

Poster 'justwokeup' made a good point, too:

Perhaps the stuffed shirts in the UK delegation to the UN in 1978 knew nothing more than the general public and felt the whole idea of involving the UN ridiculous and would bring the organisation to disrepute.

a reply to: ConfusedBrit

Sorry mate initially missed your post and that quote from Vallee certainly makes one think.

Following on from the 'Seven Official declarations made by the Argentinian Government' in the first post there are also some pretty revealing statements made by South American Military Officials here.