Canary Island UFO Sphere Incident, 1976.

Very strange UFO case from the Canary Islands in 1976:

A large unidentified luminous phenomenon was observed throughout the Spanish Canary Islands on the night of June 22, 1976. Newspaper headlines proclaimed the following day that "thousands of people" had seen a "spectacular luminous phenomenon" which "lasted twenty minutes and was observed from Tenerife, La Palma and La Gomera."77 The most sensational aspect was the experience of a medical doctor and his taxi driver, who reported a transparent sphere with two tall entities inside.

Photograph of large luminous phenomenon seen over the Canary Islands in June 1976 from the declassified file of the Spanish Air Force:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ac9b240e6608.jpg[/atsimg]




Spanish Navy Crew witness UFO:

The first observation was made at 21:27 hrs. on June 22, 1976 by the entire crew of the corvette Atrevida of the Spanish Navy, which was located 3 nm (3.5 statute miles or 5.5 km.) off Punta Lantailla on the coast of Fuerteventura Island. The ship's captain provided a detailed description of the event:

"At 21:27 (Z) hrs. on 22 June,we saw an intense yellowish-bluish light moving out from the shore towards our position. At first we thought it was an aircraft with its landing lights on. Then, when the light had attained a certain elevation (15 - 18 degrees), it became stationary. The original light went out and a luminous beam from it began to rotate. It remained like this for approximately two minutes. Then an intense great halo of yellowish and bluish light developed, and remained in the same position for 40 minutes, even though the original phenomenon was no longer visible.

"Two minutes after the great halo, the light split into two parts, the smaller part being beneath, in the center of the luminous halo, where a blue cloud appeared and the part from which the bluish nucleus had come, vanished. The upper part began to climb in a spiral, rapid and irregular, and finally vanished. None of these movements affected the initial circular halo in any way, which remained just the same the whole time, its glow lighting up parts of the land and the ocean, from which we could deduce that the phenomenon was not very far away from us, but was close."

Aritst rendition:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7a1708f4c02a.jpg[/atsimg]

Three minutes later, at 21:30 hrs., a very similar phenomenon was observed by many people in the Grand Canary Island. The majority of the witnesses interviewed by the Air Force were from the villages of Galdar, Las Rosas and Agaete. They were from different professions:medical doctor, school teacher, farmer, sergeant, two taxi drivers, police guard and laborers. Newspapers and UFO investigators located additional witnesses in the islands.

The Air Zone General Investigative Adjutant added:

"Then, numerous witnesses belonging to different positions and cultural strata, saw it with similar characteristics in the Grand Canary island. Therefore, the fact that a very strange and peculiar aerial phenomenon occurred on the night of 22 June is a true and proven fact, as incredible as its behavior and conditions may seem."

Humanoid reports:

One witness was a physician from the town of Guía, Dr. Francisco Padrón León. His deposition is the longest in the file. Dr. Padrón explained that he had been called to attend a patient and was riding in a taxi to see her in the town of Las Rosas:

"We were talking about hunting... as we entered the last part of the road, the car lights pointed at a slightly luminous sphere that was stationary and very close to the ground, although I can't say for sure if it was touching it; it was made of a totally transparent and crystalline-like material, since it was possible to see through it the stars in the sky; it had an electric blue color but tenuous, without dazzling; it had a radius of about 30 m. , and in the lower third of the sphere you could see a platform of aluminum-like color as if made of metal, and three large consoles. At each side of the center there were two huge figures of 2.50 to 3 m. tall, but no taller than 3 m. , dressed entirely in red and facing each other in such a way that I always saw their profile."

They were humanoid in shape with the head proportionate to the thorax and wearing some kind of head gear. Dr. Padrón asked the taxi driver if he was seeing the same thing, and he exclaimed, "My God! What is that?" As the car reached the patient's house, the doctor noted:

"Then I observed that some kind of bluish smoke was coming out from a semi-transparent central tube in the sphere, covering the periphery of the sphere's interior without leaking outside at any moment. Then the sphere began to grow and grow until it became huge like a 20-story house, but the platform and the crew remained the same size; it rose slowly and majestically and it seems I heard a very tenuous whistling."

Dr. Padrón entered the house and alerted the residents, who went outside and saw:

"The sphere, now high, was moving slowly toward Tenerife; suddenly it reached enormous speed like none I ever saw in an airplane; the sphere dissolved into a bluish spindle-shape with red underneath; a brilliant white halo was formed close to the object, which bit by bit was forming another very brilliant blue halo. It disappeared in the direction of Tenerife."

Dr. Padrón's testimony was confirmed by the taxi driver, who also saw "a craft that looked as if it was made of transparent crystal," about 25 m. high and 20 m. wide, with "two persons dressed in brilliant red inside." In addition, there was a third witness, an illiterate woman who was a relative of the doctor's patient. She was watching TV when the screen went blank and the dogs began to bark. She ran to the window in time to:

"... see the doctor's car and just above it the great blue ball... It was like a perfectly round globe, but very big, transparent, the stars could be seen through it. She saw two man-like figures inside, but she is not completely sure as she panicked, closed the windows and doors of the house and began to pray."

Artist impression of transparent sphere with two tall occupants seen by a medical doctor and two other witnesses - Spanish Air Force Files:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/7ec9d67e3670.jpg[/atsimg]

"This incident was neither the first nor the last UFO report investigated officially in the Canary Islands. On November 19, 1976, the Commanding General of the Canaries' Air Zone, Gen. Carlos Dols de Espejo, and his aides observed first-hand another large halo while flying on an Air Force T-12 transport plane. The crew of a Spanish Navy training ship and the personnel at the Gando Air Base also reported the phenomenon."

Quote made by Investigative Adjutant:

"If we study as a whole the three reports issued up to the present (1/75, 1/76, and 2/76), we should have to think seriously of the necessity of considering the possibility of accepting the hypothesis that a craft of unknown origin, propelled by an equally unknown energy, is moving freely over the skies in the Canaries."

Commanding General of the Canaries' Air Zone Investigative Adjutant.

links:

www.bibliotecapleyades.net...
www.ufologie.net...
www.ufocasebook.com...
ufos.about.com...


[edit on 02/10/08 by karl 12]

Wow.....

I lived in Fuerteventura for 2 years and the sky was amazing at night and you could always see lots of stars!

My Dad still lives there and always got his binos out at night looking at the stars so im gona look more into this...

Great post thanks

WOW.....Loads of sightings over the years in the canary islands!

www.ufoinfo.com...
www.ufodigest.com...
www.ufoevidence.org...

Did anyone try to locate a prosaic explanation? Surely there's got to be a search engine function that turns up links such as this one:

www.anomalia.org...

You don't need to believe it. But gosh, you ought to at least be able to locate it and compare it to one-sided accounts, shouldn't you?

reply to post by karl 12


Another excellent case with multiple witnesses. The two tall beings are not the usual gray aliens, and that adds to the case. Thank you for bringing this case to our attention, Karl 12.

I will research this one in the older UFO books to see what is reported.

reply to post by JimOberg


A prosaic explanation for a doctor and other witnesses observing a transparent sphere with humanoids in it? Do you have one? I'd love to hear it.

That's often the problem with "prosaic explanations" - they fail to address all of the elements reported. They perhaps explain a few - in some cases at a real stretch - but often fail miserably to explain them all. But for those limited to considering "prosaic explanations" this doesn't really matter, it's enough to dismiss the whole thing.


[edit on 14-4-2009 by Malcram]

I agree. The explanation given by the link you provided does not cover all that was observed. The photo is very convincing as far as I can see.

Originally posted by Lebowski achiever
I agree. The explanation given by the link you provided does not cover all that was observed. The photo is very convincing as far as I can see.

I congratulate you for your perfectly fitting 'quotation' in your signature:

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened."

reply to post by Lebowski achiever


Yes its interesting that noone is aware of where the submarines actualy were - the Atlantic ocean is a pretty big place.

..the launches were made from the Eastern US Test Range, a big area covering from Cape Canaveral to Ascension Island. Unfortunately, the exact position of the submarines involved is still classified.

Its also interesting that the entire crew of a Spanish Navy ship could not 'identify and attribute' the effects of Naval missiles.

I'm not saying that this explanation is untenable but, as with many other 'kneejerk debunks', it wilfully ignores large swathes of contradictory evidence and eyewitness testimony which stands in the way of a preconceived notion.

It also mentions at the link that:

..The 1976 declassified Spanish Air Force report was massive, containing over one hundred pages of testimony, evaluations, drawings, and more..

Link

Do you not think that blindly ascribing all this huge amount of official government documentation and credible eye-witness testimony to 'some missiles being let off in the ocean somewhere' is being a little presumptuous?

To my mind the 'missile explanation' is rather weak, fails to address all the reported facts and very far from conclusive.


[edit on 02/10/08 by karl 12]

Aren't you guys being a little, just a tad, uh, closed-minded? Could ONE of those events be attributed to a rocket launch? Maybe two? ...

And if there WAS a missile launch simo with the witness claiming to have seen an alien, how did the alien know to coordinate her appearance with the missile?

Do you think that missile launches have EVER, anywhere, caused 'UFO reports'? Even once?

Show a little curiosity here -- it's a teachable moment for some of us.

If there was a missle launch anywhere around those islands it must of come from a sub or something

Most of the islands especialy Fuerteventura and Lanzarote are Desert islands and not very big.............
There is a Army/Spanish Air Force base just outside Peurto de Rosario in Fuerteventura which is very hush hush and has been for the last 40 years but thats all i can find out from my sources there!

Other rocket launches that have caused UFO reports include:

Petrozavodsk, USSR, 1977
tonos.ru...

Petrozavodsk -- this set is upside down…
www.mai.ru...

There have even been suggestions that Bill Pecha’s UFO in 1976 was a ‘light show’ from a missile launch from Vandenberg AFB.

www.mufon.com...

Originally posted by JimOberg
Aren't you guys being a little, just a tad, uh, closed-minded? Could ONE of those events be attributed to a rocket launch? Maybe two? ...

And if there WAS a missile launch simo with the witness claiming to have seen an alien, how did the alien know to coordinate her appearance with the missile?

Do you think that missile launches have EVER, anywhere, caused 'UFO reports'? Even once?

Show a little curiosity here -- it's a teachable moment for some of us.

Is this subject open for discussion?

This is a bit off subject sorry....

Well people in the Canary Islands do tend to drink to much so maybe thats 1 explanation or maybe it was a missle test of some kind but i highly doubt it....guess we will never know

The Canarian people are big belivers that the lost continent of Atlantis was the orginal canary islands! They belive that thousands of years ago when Atlantis was lost that the earth gave birth to the Canary islands so that the surviving Atlantians could rebuild what was lost......

Its just folk law that has been twisted and rewrote over the years but the orginal inhabitants(Guanches)of the canarys have a strong belief in this...

They are a bit strange considering theyt are so close to Africa.....blonde hair and blue eyes are the norm!.....anyways not much is know about there history so heres a short snippet......

The original inhabitants of the Canary Islands were the "Guanches". Carbon dating has placed the earliest settlement at around 200 BC. The Guanches origin, to this day, remains a mystery. Some historians believe them to be from Egyptian origins due to their methods of mummifying corpses. A few wonder if they were the decendents from the last survivors of the lost city of Atlantis, believed to be lost close to the islands. Others say the Vikings as a typical Guanche would have had tanned skin and been tall with fair hair and blue eyes. The Guanches were pastoral and worked the land. Their way of life was very basic - almost 'stoneage' - and the tools which they used were primitive. Wheels were unknown to them. The clay pots which they used were moulded by hand. Most were cave dwellers although a few of them did lay stones, one on top of the other, to form rudimentary houses.

In 1404, the neighbouring island of Lanzarote was conquered by Juan Bethencourt of Spain. In 1408 he went on to conquer Fuerteventura. He built a Hermitage, which today can still be seen and forms part of the Church of St.Mary in Betancuria, the original capital of Fuerteventura and named after the Spanish conqueror. By the mid 15th century, the locals lead an uprising against the Spanish, tired of being treated like slaves. This was thier last (and unsuccessful) attempt at regaining control of the island. However, in 1740 the English decided to try their luck and invade Fuerteventura but they were greeted and defeated in the battle "Tamasite" near the bay of Gran Tarajal. The English were so surprised by the ferocity of the poorly armed locals that they retreated in fear.

Really, little has changed or happened on the island until the 60s when Franco allowed tourism into the Canaries and Fuerteventura started getting ready for a boom which, whilst arriving in Tenerife and Gran Canaria in the 50s and 60s, didn't get to Fuerteventura until the 80s.

Today the island is split into 6 municipalities :- from the north down they are La Oliva, Puerto del Rosario, Betancuria, Antigua, Tuineje and Pajara. Tourism is by far the biggest industry on the island. Other industries include goat farming and cheese making, farming tomatos and fishing.

So the answer to a respectful proposal to discuss an alternative prosaic explanation of classic UFO cases is to post a travelogue of the witness site? Talk about avoidance mechanisms!!

Richard Dolan discusses the Canary Island Sphere Incident and addresses the 'threadbare' debunker argument (around 19:20)

Google Video Link

[edit on 02/10/08 by karl 12]

reply to post by parrallel


hey parrallel im living in fuerteventura now ive lived here for 2 and a half years. i certainly know what you mean by how beautiful the sky is on a clear night. im always watching the skys out here, and ive seen a few strange things.

Originally posted by karl 12
Yes its interesting that noone is aware of where the submarines actualy were - the Atlantic ocean is a pretty big place.

If the UFOs were Poseidon missile tests, where would they be launched from ? This old map of the Eastern Test Range doesn't seem to be anywhere near the Canary Islands. Is the skeptics position the SLBMs can be seen from thousands of miles away ? Or is the assumption the submarine was close to the Canary Islands at launch ?
Why does the one military witness say the UFO came towards them from the land ?




Here are the times from one of the alleged tests:

2443938.28 1979 Mar LO98.171 May 1847 Poseidon SLBM SSBN 642, USN ETR LO98.172 2443938.28 1979 Mar 05 1848 Poseidon SLBM SSBN 642,ETR USN 2443938.28 1979 Mar LO98.172 May 1848 Poseidon SLBM SSBN 642, USN ETR LO98.173 2443938.34 1979 Mar 05 2007 Poseidon SLBM SSBN 642,ETR USN 2443938.34 1979 Mar LO98.173 May 2007 Poseidon SLBM SSBN 642, USN ETR LO98.174 2443938.43 1979 Mar 05 2225 Poseidon SLBM SSBN 642,ETR USN 2443938.43 1979 Mar LO98.174 May 2225 Poseidon SLBM SSBN 642, USN ETR

www.emisterios.com...&ei=wzxcTcOsLpCgsQP84M2UAg&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CEkQ7gEwBg&pre v=/search%3Fq%3DJonathan%2BMcDowell%2Bposeidon%2BSLBM%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DulU%26sa%3DG%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-USfficial%26channel% 3Ds%26biw%3D717%26bih%3D283%26prmd%3Divnso

I'd like to know Mr. McDowell's source. I've read in a few places he's correlated the UFOs exactly with Poseidon missile launches but haven't seen his source. Also like someone said, the SLBM theory doesn't come close to explaining the Doctor and others' sighting of a UFO with occupants. It doesn't make sense to me the US Navy would test launch SLBMs near the Canary Islands instead of somewhere off the coast of Florida.
Testing near the Canaries would make it easier for Soviet submarines to covertly observe the events.

Also something to think about, if there were SLBM tests, maybe the Doctor observed a UFO in the area that was monitoring the tests ?

reply to post by JimOberg


"There have even been suggestions that Bill Pecha’s UFO in 1976 was a ‘light show’ from a missile launch from Vandenberg AFB."

I am so sorry to rain on their parade but even though I was only 5 yrs when this happened to my father and my family.....it was not a missile launch from Vandenberg AFB. I was there, I lived the horror and it wasn't a light show. I wish it would have been, wish it would have been a dream instead of reality. Wouldn't wish that night on any dis-believer.

reply to post by JimOberg


Lets compare,







Looks like a match to me Jim!