INEXPLICATA.US

IHU

PO BOX 228

Derrick City, PA 16727

USA

Institute of Hispanic Ufology

Inexplicata – The Journal of Hispanic Ufology

December 2004

A Journal of UFO and Paranormal Phenomena in the Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain

Edited and Translated by Scott Corrale

So…what happened? Did Aliens get our collective tongues? Far from maintaining our promise of two yearly issues containing features by the foremost researchers of Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain, we’ve only now, as the year rumbles to a close, managed to squeeze out a single issue.

INEXPLICATA: The Journal of Hispanic Ufology sort of went on hiatus this year, even though our daily updates on cattle mutilations in Argentina, the controversial lights over Mexico’s Campeche Sound and the unexplained “meteorite” falls in Tierra del Fuego were all made known to the media at large. Among other reasons, IHU rallied its forces this year to put out a sister publication to this one, named ARCANA MUNDI, whose mission is exactly the opposite: to inform readers in the Spanish-speaking world of little-known or underreported UFO/paranormal events in the U.S., U.K, Canada and Australia along with in-depth looks into specific areas of inquiry.

Getting out the five issues of ARCANA MUNDI was a challenge and great fun at the same time, as the publication was welcomed by an unexpectedly large number of readers, even some who volunteered to help create websites for the journal or else include it on their own sites.

In this issue Lucy Guzmán examines reports from a surprisingly active 2004 down in Puerto Rico and Guillermo Giménez interviews an important though anonymous experiencer of a number of MIB events of a clearly paranormal nature; following his lead, we look at the MIB phenomenon within a global context.

Puerto Rico UFO Activity 2004: From the Ovni.Net Database

By Lucy Guzmán

Narrative: In his communiqué, Reinaldo Rios reported during a UFO skywatch at one of his UFO Camps, held in the Sierra Bermeja region of Lajas, Puerto Rico, and in the presence of dozens of people, a series of strange movements took place over the vicinity. Rios was forced to terminate the activity to observe others moving strangely. He also reported that the Los Ovnis Y Usted radio program reported sightings of an enormous light in space after Rios had started his activity.

Other reports: Ríos reported that locals claimed seeing “dancing lights” for a couple of days.

Place: Parking lot of the Santa Maria Shopping Center in Guaynabo (report reads Rio Piedras),Puerto Rico

Description of object: A large, glowing, silvery isoceles triangle. It had a relative size of 3 inches, indicating it must have been a very large object.

Narrative: Mrs. Elba Rivera and her husband witnessed a large, glowing, silvery, isoceles-triangle-shaped object from the Santa Maria Shopping Center. The object apparently materialized in place at a distance (they estimated somewhere in the Municipality of Bayamón). A cloud covered it. Once the cloud moved, the object was no longer there.

Narrative: Reinaldo Ríos reported that he was receiving cases involving lights on the beach at Guánica.

Note: When asked to provide a date and further data, he advised that these were not recent cases.

Description of object: A strange light crossed the skies of Lajas, P.R. According to the witnessed, it moved swiftly and noiselessly. It was amber-colored and the UFO was rather large in size. It flew over a commercial airliner. .

Source: “Reporte ovni” e-mail dated Tuesday, April 6 on the Imprimátur weblist.

Place: The report does not indicate a specific location. Only the areas of College Park and Altamesa are mentioned; both developments are located in the municipality of Guaynabo.

Description of the object: Large, shining cylindrical object with a relative length of 6 feet.

Narrative: Mrs. Rivera and other witnesses observed an object with a relative size of 6 feet that was many miles away (distance not specified). It was traveling from east to west and vanished from sight in seconds.

Date: Wednesday, April 14 (date of report)

Witnesses: The name of the owner of the 12 photos is unknown. Copies of the 12 photos were provided to researcher Luiseppi Quiñónez by a person other than their author. Luissepi does not know the owner, either.

Narrative: Luiseppi Quiñónez presented a fragment of a UFO photo in the vicinity of the Lajas Aerostat. It shows the UFO (pink colored), the aerostat and some black spots that could be dirt on the lens, birds, etc. He reported that the series of 12 photographs was being analyzed, but no further information about them was available as of September 2004. The other photos show a cigar-shaped UFO and an aircraft prototype flying over Lajas as well as a conventional UFO (flying saucer) near the Aerostat facility.

Note: The photo closely resembles one in the possession of Dr. Andrew Álvarez and taken in the 1990’s, which was given to him by an employee of the Aerostat facility. It would be necessary to analyze them to ascertain if they are one and the same.

Note: The Ovni.Net database contains three (3) photos of UFOs in the vicinity of the Aerostat facility.

Narrative: Mr. Aguirre, a fisherman and local resident, said that many fishermen were reporting strange lights entering and exiting the sea and the cliffs near the lighthouse in the wee hours of the morning. Tourists have reported feeling strange sensations and certain types of paranormal energy, as though there were something else going on at the site.

Place: Site of the Reinaldo Rios UFO skywatches on Carretera 303, Km 7, Hm 8 of the Fajardo Sector, Lajas, Puerto Rico

Witnesses: In Reinaldo Rios’s personal files, since the report states that witnesses wish to remain anonymous.

Narrative: Several lights were seen during the Skywatch celebrating National UFO Day.

Other reports: According to Reinaldo Ríos there were two other witnesses (Mr.. Héctor from Guayama and Mr. Mercado ) who reported having seen a strange light moving over one of the hills on the day of the celebration. According to Rios, both narratives coincided on the object’s speed, movement and displacement.

Description of object: Report limited itself to saying that a UFO was seen flying over the skies of Cabo Rojo, that interviews are underway and that results will be made known later. .

Narrative: Researchers reported, among other things: “When the child of the Marín family went to feed the family animals at the rear of the house, he found that all of the ducks were dead. The ducks had holes on their backs (near the tail, where their sexual organs are located). Another duck had its head and bill shattered. Another had been decapitated; still another survived but was injured on one of its legs, having trouble walking. .

Evidence: Apparently, since the researchers claim having performed analyses.

Conclusions: As the reports indicate, the researchers checked the dead animals with their equipment, showing them to be clear of any hazardous, radioactive or toxic materials.

Note: Researchers did not indicate the type of equipment used in the analyses, nor were they presented.

It was September 1983 when a letter, one among many in my customary and numerous correspondence received, caught my attention. It was signed by a well-known researcher and author of major works on this avenue of inquiry.

The letter made reference to the subject in which I specialize: the activities of the ever-mysterious Men in Black, the focus of my intense research activity toward unmasking this conspiracy of silence.

It was thus that my research began, as an interrogation of the main witness, knowing him to be witness with impeccable qualifications who has served an important agency of the Argentinean

Republic, and whose duties required a security clearance. He is a person with a clean record and fine reputation.

I have omitted his name and other information here, along with those of other protagonists involved in these strange facts at his own request. In spite of this, all of the reports are in my possession.

T.: In a field 10 km from Rancul, province of La Pampa, but in the jurisdiction of Córdoba.

T.: No. Not even after my second experience on October 13, 1965. It happened a few years later.

T.: Yes, but not as a researcher, rather as a literary device, even someone jokingly about the “redemptionist” tendencies of some ufologists, which I find comical.

T.: Nothing. I got up early (at that time I worked afternoons). Well, not even that, I’ve always woken up early. But I had never gone out to the street at that time.

T.: October 1976. Don’t recall the day. I do remember the time more or less—around 08:30 am.

T.: A woman walking in the opposite direction toward me greeted my by my surname as we crossed paths. Her facial expression was strange – agressive and mocking.

T.: Black skirt and jacket. Matching shoes and a black handbag in her right hand.

T.: I readied myself to ask her about her strange behavior the previous day. She looked defiantly at me and asked, in the same tone: What’s the matter?

T.: Yes, until she reached Cangallo, where she turned around to look at me from some 60 meters away, as if aware that the building’s porter and I were discussing her, if she was from the neighborhood or not.

T.: At first nothing special, since I didn’t foreshadow anything. On the second occasion, a sensation of cold and panic, the certainty that I was facing something beyond my comprehension.

T.: Very shiny, possessed. I sometimes say a “golden sheen” although it wasn’t exactly like that, because I don’t know how else to describe a look that was so strange, filled with menace, malice, hatred.

T.: At first, nothing. I walked toward Rivadavia and returned immediately. The second time, I walked some 10 or 15 steps trying to find an explanation to the subject and then, recalling that the porter was cleaning the entrance to the building, and was a man who’d been on the job for 10 years and knew almost everyone around, I turned back to ask him if he knew the woman. After looking at her, he said no. My question had a double purpose: for a moment I thought it was a vision only for me, something only I was seeing. This ties in to something else…that perhaps ties into the problem. Some three months earlier, one morning as I walked almost across the same site – perhaps 10 meters more toward Diaz Velez Street – a woman wearing clothes that were dark, but not black, leaped out, shielding herself with both hands (like a soccer goalie when trying catch a ball that’s close to the ground) against the window of a furniture store that used to be there at the time. As I walked passed her, she screamed at me: “Help me! Help me!” Which I was about to do, but finally desisted for two reasons, upon recapacitating:

1. The strange way she fell, protecting herself with both hands to avoid the impact. In other words, I realized that her fall was a sham.

2. A couple crossing Billinghurst Street with their child and waiting for some cars to go by evidently isn’t aware of the fact, doesn’t even see it, since the woman has fallen only a few meters away from them and they make no move. I realize then that something will happen to me if I help her, since her behavior is only visible to me. Others don’t see it. You understand what I’m saying?

T.: Nothing. I kept walking without helping her, realizing that passerby werent’ seeing what I was seeing.

G.D.G.: Was it then that you decided to spend the holidays with your family and go back to your hometown?

T.: No, my decision to return home was made before that, providing that my personal finances allowed it. In other words: Before the events with the woman in black, not as a specific situation on that year, but as a possibility that was always there, should I be able to carry it out.

T.: Yes. It’s a place with a great UFO tradition. Ah! But perhaps you’re asking this with regard to me. There’s a strange “guilt complex”. Last year (1983) they did a tribute for me on local radio, reading things of mine, airing a few folksongs of mine that they recorded. They also sought me out to write the lyrics to the Anthem of the Colegio Nacional, which was a great success. They perform it every anniversary and there are encores.

T.: V.H. wasn’t at Banco Popular Financiero,only A.S. (the person I’d gone to greet) and C.N., who asks me directly: “Where are the originals?” I find V.H at the Oriente sweet shop and he’s scared and nervous. He also asks for the originals and where do I live. He asks me that I request Planeta to return them. He asks me if I live at home or what. He refuses the chance to have dinner with me (he had never done so before). When I ran across him before heading back, after his strange disappearance of 3-4 days, he shakes my hand weakly and runs away from me.

G.D.G.: At the railway station you are reminded of the “strange eyes” of the woman in black when you notice Agent G. Is this really so?

T.: Perhaps not “identical”. It was the strange gleam, the possessed and “blank” attitude.

T.: Two men, one tall and clean-shaven, the other shorter and with a trimmed mustache. They were dressed like bank managers, wearing sunglasses. They didn’t carry attaché cases or anything, which everyone carries when they’re going on a rather long, protracted trip. That detail really drew my attention. They had dark complexions, serene and paused movements. Their appearance was impeccable. They traveled together but never exchanged a word.

T.: The one with the mustache was about 1.70 mts. The clean-shaven one about 1,85 mts.

T.: Mongoloid or eskimo. I’m aware that this is commonplace within this phenomenon, but that’s how it was. How it is.

T.: No. They only stared each other in the face, as to reassure each other about something that had been discussed previously.

T.: They sat on the left row of seats—bearing in mind that the train was headed toward Buenos Aires and my own location. Then one moved some three or four seats toward me on the right. Then three or four more before they sat down together on the left. They finally separated and the one with the mustache sat on the right, some 3 meters from where I was sitting. The other one remained in the left row, a few seats behind.

T.: Because I had an ephimeral political carreer…at the time I attributed it to elements of some police or para-police outfit that wanted to assassinate me. It was only with time that I learned I was never a “marked man.” When I tied loose ends together, I realized that I was dealing with MIBs.

T.: I got off at Saénz Peña and took the 105 to Billinghurst and Bartolomé Mitre.

G.D.G.: Do you think that by getting off the train before reaching your destination, you somehow “broke” their programming?

T.: In 1977, when I thought that the greater intellectual freedom there would allow the book to appear.

T.: A lens fell out of her eyeglasses, and a carefully divided triangle appeared on her other pair.

G.D.G.: Wasn’t Mary, your mutual friend, also involved in these strange events?

T.: She left her room to go to the toilet. She was only a few steps in that direction when she heard a strange crushing sound to which she paid no attenton. Upon returning to he room, she unmakes her bed to get between the sheets and she finds a strange piece of wood between them. No piece of furniture, door or window in the guest house have that type of wood.

T.: A critique of the complete spiritual fall of Man, the failure of the Redeemers, the existence of the Council of Nine, which plans all malign events, and whose minions pretend to work for the Good. On July 1, 1984, I ran into Cacho Barrios, the last Cantor of Buenos Aires, who the Nine have been trying to slay so that there isn’t a trace of spirituality left alive. UFOs also play a role in Revelation, but they don’t Redeem anyone. Eustaqio Zagorski, the late Polish gentleman who was a friend of Padre Reyna [Spanish ufologist – translator’s note] also appears. It’s too involved to summarize it all.

T.: Am I afraid? All reasonable beings feel fear. What happens is that I can’t stop researching simply because of it. I’m fearful, but not entirely craven.

G.D.G.: What do you think about the behavior of people involved in these strange events?

T.: In some cases there was silly local jealousy; in others, not even that. People acted within an incredible telepathic web.

T.: No, they’re bedeviled by an odd guilt complex. They try to “make it up” to me.

T.: Yes. I’ve become very cautions. I understood that Evil takes place consciously, and that those of us who are on the side of Good, with all our weakness and hesitation, are very protected, but also under attack.

T.: Because I consider you a rational specialist in the subject. I always resort to thos who know something more about a subject to learn more. I want to know. I thought that with the cases in your file you could help me shed light on the situation in which I was involved. In turn, I thought that it could be an additional help to you, so that you’ll keep researching something that will benefit all humankind, myself included.

And that’s how I left my witness, having made him recall all of the experiences he’d lived through.

We still see each other nowadays, discussing these strange and new events that have taken place (6 to this day) and there is much more to investigate and uncover, event though my interrogation went far deeper than what is shown here.

This investigative report forms part of an ivestigation developed by its author in Argentina and abroad (Chile, Brazil, Mexico, USA and Europe) under the title “Alguien nos Vigila: Los Misteriosos Hombres de Negro” (Someone is Watching Us: The Mysterious Men in Black).

This research describes the presence of a Conspiracy of Silence and the behavior of the Men in Black, ranging from threats to eyewitnesses and researchers to mysterious deaths—mainly of ufologists—under the most varied circumstances in the field of Ufology world-wide, and which has caused many of us to take a closer look…

The success of the 1997 movie "Men In Black", starring Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, rekindled interest in this poorly understood aspect of UFO/paranormal phenomena. As the movie raked in millions at the box office and factual books on MIBbery appeared on the bookstands, it seemed impossible to believe that only three years ago, a Spanish magazine had wistfully mentioned "the almost forgotten Men-In-Black" in passing as part of an article on global UFO phenomena. The prolonged absence of these somberly-dressed, nefarious characters (believed by many to be either agents from a top-secret government agency, a "silencing" organization belonging to an extraterrestrial power carrying out clandestine operations on Earth, or manifestations of negative paranormal forces) had removed the aura of fear that envelops the phenomenon. However, recent years have proven that the dreaded Men-in-Black have returned to the scene with renewed vigor after their extended sabbatical.

Men-in-Black reputedly harass eyewitnesses to UFO sightings and encounters, usually turning up at their homes (or places of business, as transpired in one Puerto Rican case) usually way before the witnesses have even thought about going public with their stories. Case histories have them dressing in black suits, white shirts and jaunty red ties (the fabrics, however, have often been described as being unusual or unearthly),travelling in threes, more often than not aboard spanking new models of large, outdated cars. With notable exceptions, they seem to deliver a boilerplate warning: do not discuss the particular sighting, if a witness, or cease and desist investigation, if a ufologist.

These sartorial agents of silence have acquired mythic proportions in the UFO community over a timespan as lengthy as the phenomenon itself. From the first appearance of a black suited, red-cravatted man in the wake of the infamous Maury Island "Hoax", threatening witness Harold Dahl to silence, to a growing number of appearances in the '90s, MIBs remain an enthralling facet of the supernatural.

Early UFO sightings always ended with the involvement of the Air Force as the best qualified source of investigating the precise nature of these things. Airmen routinely turned up at witnesses' homes to ask questions, and in many instances, to confiscate evidence--such as samples of elusive "angel hair" taken from the home of journalist R.DeWitt Miller (author of You Do Take It With You) in 1954. When Asiatic-looking men in black suits started showing up claiming an affiliation with the Air Force, no one thought to question them, but their strange behavior--and uncanny psychic abilities--soon arose suspicion.

After being pursued by a UFO over the Mediterranean in 1951, Col. Jim Doherty was visited by a spindly young man in an Air Force lieutenant's overcoat. The gaunt-looking fellow warned Doherty, in an oddly-accented voice, to forget all about the UFO encounter. Doherty was to learn later on that there was no such officer working for AFOSI. Years after the incident, Doherty was still nightmares about his UFO encounter in which a spindly being, reminiscent of the false lieutenant, figured prominently.¹ The Air Force promptly denied any connection whatsoever to the Men in Black. A Pentagon colonel told author John Keel that they had looked into a number of Men in Black reports. The same Pentagon official stated that the UFO silencers, whoever they were, were committing a federal offense by impersonating a member of the armed forces. These trivialities did not seem to trouble the Men in Black: One such impostor, using the handle "Captain Munroe", turned up to threaten the teenage photographers of the Beaver Falls, PA UFO in 1968. The impostor told one of the young Pennsylvanians that something unpleasant might happen to him if he continued discussing his sighting.²

The Men in Black phenomenon soon took on a life of its own when Albert K. Bender, director of the International Flying Saucer Bureau, announced his retirement from "flying saucer investigation" and the IFSB's shutdown in 1953, as a result of harassment by three men in black. As rumors flew concerning the provenance of the trio, Bender himself would later state that they were not from the FBI, but "from another branch."³ The Men in Black proved to have quite a long reach, as well: Edgar J. Jarrold, head of the Australian Flying Saucer Bureau, received a mysterious visitor who advised him that "the most fantastic situation it is possible to conceive by normal standards" ⁴. Jarrold would disappear mysteriously years later. Bender would try to

expand on the reasons for his hasty departure from ufology in his UFOs and the Three Men, where he describes Kazik, the dismal homeworld of the Men in Black, and the experiences he endured at their hands.⁵ Bender could claim the distinction of being the first investigator to be molested by these unknown quantities, and his story would repeat itself in the lives of a number of investigators hence.

Warren Smith, a noted writer during the 1970's (under the name Eric Norman), had acquired a piece of metal allegedly recovered from a UFO in Madison, Wisconsin which had dumped "slag" (á la Maury Island) over an interstate highway. Aware that someone was tailing him during the investigation, Smith chose to conceal the fragment of slag within a television set in his motel room. Upon returning to his room one evening, he was faced by two men who demanded that he turn over the find, threatening harm to his family if he chose not to.⁶

While never caught red-handed, the disappearances of UFO related documents, even copies stored in different locations, have been blamed on Men in Black. A NJ housewife who made a one-line entry about a UFO sighting in 1973 in her diary lost the entire book, which was in a locked desk. UFO researchers Ivan Sanderson and Capt. Edward Ruppelt both had files containing UFO data stolen from their homes in break-ins where objects of value to an authentic burglar were left untouched.⁷

Men in Black were also involved in the disappearances of children. In August 1969, an alarming number of children suddenly vanished from the Brazilian town of Vilha Verde, reappearing with equal abruptness weeks later. The children had no recollection of where they had been during their absence, but their last recollection seemed to be having taken a ride in an expensive automobile driven by a "gentleman all dressed in black."⁸ One girl claimed that a man in black had led her to the outskirts of town to a strange machine, having asked her to take her a ride "in his airplane", but seeing her discomfiture, gave her a handful of candies and told her to go back home. Nor have they apparently shied away from involvement in the cattle mutilations

John Keel, whose delving into the subject would make him the unquestioned expert in these matters documented the uncanny powers of these beings: in 1960, William Dunn Jr., a UFO investigator, had his home burglarized, his files burned, and his photos stolen.¹⁰ Men in Black were notably active during the West Virginia "Mothman" Sightings of 1966-67 as well as in Long Island, N.Y. Far from believing them to be extraterrestrial agents, Keel introduced the concept of the Men in Black as negative, paraphysical forces whose warnings were not to be taken lightly. His sentiments would be echoed by other writers and researchers. Some, like David Tansley, believe that they are a form of demonic psychic energy--a conjecture substantiated by records from past centuries. Others opine that they are thought-forms of some sort, although whose thought forms remains unclear.¹¹

In 1966, Mike Lonzo wrote a 58-page UFO report for a high-school English class. His effort was awarded an "A" grade and placed on display in his school after he was asked to read it to an entire convocation of students. This coincided with his mother's interest in signing up for a correspondence course on creative writing, sponsored by an outfit known as "Famous Writers". The volume of work required clashed with Mrs. Lonzo's other duties, so she became discouraged.

One afternoon (date uncertain, but school was out for the summer), a strange character paid a visit to the Lonzo household. Mike describes him as wearing an olive-green sharkskin suit and having dark wavy hair and the facial structure of a "Filipino/Pakistani". The man extended a business card and introduced himself as "Mr. Marx", a sales rep for "Famous Writers". Mrs. Lonzo was concerned at first, believing that he had come to chide her on her lack of progress in the writing course.

"Mr. Marx", however, appeared more interested in UFOs and asked if either Mike or Mrs. Lonzo had seen any in the area. Mike promptly volunteered that he had recently completed an award-winning report on the subject. "Mr.Marx" went on to tell Mike that Wright-Patterson AFB had a museum in which captured saucers were "on exhibit". He later offered to take Mike's report to his superiors for possible publication as a pamphlet. "This was 1966," Mike observes, "and Kinko's [a commercial photocopying establishment] wasn't around yet." No other copy of the document, which included photos, was available at the time. As a curious aside, Mr. Marx told the Lonzos that he lived in West Mifflin (outside of Pittsburgh, PA) in one of two "round houses" built in the 1950's and which were well-known to townspeople due to their irregular, futuristic style.

Mike went to bed excited about the possible publication of his project. But as days went by, no word was heard from Mr. Marx. A call was placed to the number on his business card, only to be told that there was no "Mr.Marx" working for Famous Writers as a sales rep. A helpful operator suggested that they try the Cleveland office. The reply there was the same: there was no Mr. Marx working in any capacity for their company.

Mike and his father went to West Mifflin to find the purported Marx character at one of the "round houses". They were stunned to discover that there was no Mr. Marx or Marx family at either of the structures. The fate of his school report remains a mystery to this day.

Most readers will be surprised to learn that Men-in-Black are not an exclusively Western phenomenon. In his book, China and The Extraterrestrials (Difel, 1985--translation available in French and in Portuguese), author Shi Bo relates an interview between newspaperman Wang Shili and a military chaffeur named Li Jingyang, who had a UFO experience in Shansi province in 1963, when he was only six years old. While out with his friends, Li Jingyang noticed an awe-inspiring discoidal object emerge from the clouds in an otherwise clear sky. The terrified boys observed the UFO closely, which remained static in the sky for some ten minutes. The following day, while walking the streets alone, Li was surprised by a tall man "completely dressed in black" who stopped him in his tracks, barring his way and demanding to know what the boy had seen. "Since I didn't understand him very well," the hapless witness explained, "he repeated his question, and I replied yes. He pointed at the sky, where the luminous object had staged its appearance and asked me again: was it there? I told him yes. He advised me to never tell others what I'd seen. Only after I gave him my word of honor did he allow me to leave."

Li Jingyang recalls the man as having dark skin, adding that many other people saw him and discussed the strange character, whose "gestures were incomprehensible." The Man-In-Black walked in a mechanical manner and its mouth did not move whenever it spoke. It disappeared suddenly after turning around a street corner.

Mexican researcher Dr. Rafael A. Lara notes that on the evening of June 24th, 1967, over 110 UFO incidents were logged in a 24-hour period in the skies over Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Uruguay. Perhaps more astonishing than the scope of this UFO event was the fact that it had been foretold by a Man in Black.

Four days earlier, the newsroom of the Cordoba (Argentina) "Los Principios" journal had received the visit of a very strange man dressed in black. The unusual character left a long letter addressed to the paper's editor, saying that before the week was out, the skies of the South American landmass would be swarming with extraterrestrial vehicles. The day before the sightings began, the paper received a phone call stating: "Attention!...it is about to happen at any moment."

But the MIB's work in South America was hardly finished. During several days in the month of August, 1968, strange lights were seen in the night skies over Santa Fé, Argentina. Farmers were surprised to find strange circular burn marks on their properties as a result of these sightings; numerous animals died as a result of some sort of radiation in the area. A local family witnessed a jeep carrying four men in black coveralls drive up to their home. One of the men asked the owner what was the best way to get off the property. UFO sightings over the region ceased shortly after the incident involving these jeep-riding MIB.

In 1971, two physicians -- Arguello de la Mota and Antonio Arocha -- were in San Juan de los Morros, a small town not far from Caracas, Venezuela when they were startled by the unexpected arrival of two characters dressed in black who drove into the dusty town in a sporty Mustang. Unaware that they were being watched, the MIB exchanged remarks and donned orange-colored belts. Suddenly, a brilliant object appeared in the sky, descending rapidly to the surface. The physicians, swore that the object was a 60-foot wide disk-shaped craft which produced a parabolic ladder while hovering inches off the ground. The MIB entered the vehicle, which rose into the skies and vanished out of sight (no information is available on the fate of the brand-new sports car they left behind). The story was circulated worldwide by United Press International.

When Karl Brugger, author of the "Chronicles of Akakor" (a narration of "lost" underground cities in Brazil) was mysteriously murdered on the streets of Rio de Janeiro in January 1984, a number of South American investigators promptly placed responsibility for the crime on the HDN (hombres de negro, the Spanish acronym for MIB). Fabio Zerpa, editor of the now defunct Cuarta Dimensión, declared: "These deaths always have the appearance of being natural events, but curiously enough, every time someone has important information on a crucial subject, strange accidents seem to befall them."¹⁵

The late British paranormalist F.W. Holiday had a personal encounter an unusual Man in Black in the aftermath of the exorcism of Loch Ness in 1978. The figure, which stood some 30 yards away from him, was six feet tall and clothed in black motorcycle leathers with a helmet covering its features.¹² Holiday could detect no eyes behind the visor and felt "a strong sensation of malevolence" issuing from it. He walked within a few feet of it and past it, but when he turned around to look at it again, the figure had vanished.

A more mundane origin for these elusive characters, in step with the "secret government agent" theory, is that they were in fact elements of the Air Force Special Activities Center (AFSAC), devoted to non-electronic intelligence gathering, in particular the 1127th Field Activities Group, comprising a varied array of shady types, ranging from lock-pickers and impersonators to ex-convicts, whose tasks were made even easier by the paranoia surrounding the UFO community. A corollary belief is that a great many Men in Black were Tibetan monks who followed the Dalai Lama and the Khamba riders into exile, placing their uncanny prowess at the service of the CIA. While fanciful, this would certainly account for the Asiatic physiognomy and unfamiliarity certain customs.

Some Men in Black have upon occasion demonstrated non-stereotypical behavior: In November 1973 a young woman working for an employment agency in San Juan, Puerto Rico received an afternoon visit from a man clad in an immaculately black suit with a shirt that seemed to be woven of a texture unknown on Earth. The man had extremely long, tapering fingers (as reported in other Men in Black cases) and a mannequin-smooth complexion. The woman found herself mesmerized by his conversation, which ranged from the ecology to war, along with statements such as: "there were other worlds than this one." According to author Salvador Freixedo, the Men in Black often respond positively to courteous treatment.¹³

The Men in Black seemed to have taken an extended furlough sometime in the late 70's. One of their last major appearances was in the wake of the failed hijacking of a private plane by three small UFOs over Lake Tequesquitengo, Mexico. The pilot, Carlos de los Santos Montiel, was harassed by Men in Black on his way to an interview with the late Dr. J.Allen Hynek. Many believe that the increased willingness to discuss the phenomenon in the wake of 1978's Close Encounters of the Third Kind spiked the MIB's usefulness as tools of fear and intimidation.

But the Nineties have witnessed their disturbing return to the scene in a number of cases: Puerto Rican investigator Jorge Martín, editor of Evidencia Ovni magazine, unearthed an astonishing MIB story while interviewing the late Diego Segarra, a key witness to the Laguna Cartagena sightings. Segarra told Martín that a friend had had a chilling experience while exploring the vicinity of the lagoon, recording things on a small camcorder. The witness saw a bright flash that proved to emanate from a spherical UFO about to land. Hiding behind the dense tropical vegetation, Segarra's friend was able to see--and allegedly capture on video--jumpsuited Greys emerging from the craft, followed by a tall, albinoesque human figure clad in a black suit, white shirt, and red tie. The witness also added that the man in the black suit wore sunglasses and had silvery hair, and was whisked away by two soldiers riding a jeep--a notable step down from the ubiquitous black Cadillac.

Pennsylvanian UFO investigator Lois Le Gros has studied a number of cases involving MIB activity in the 1990s: two witnesses, one of them an abductee, were cornered by a Man in Black in the aisle of a discount store near Pittsburgh. According to their testimony, the strange personage appeared intent on mesmerizing them with an unusual ring on one of the fingers of his hand. In a completely unrelated case, another young abductee from a Pittsburgh suburb would encounter a Man in Black every day--on her way to work.

Describing him as "intimidating", the witness told Le Gros that he would board the bus every day and gradually sit closer to her. The sinister figure wore a full-length black trenchcoat, even in unseasonable weather, and hat, shoes, gloves and shirt of the same color. On one occasion, the stranger sat next to her on the bus, causing her to cringe against the window. In spite of the confined space on the vehicle, the witness expressed a belief that she may well have been the only one to have noticed the sinister, outlandishly dressed character.

The strange "reanimation" of the Men in Black seems to have adapted itself to the belt-tightening Nineties: travelling in twos rather than threes, using public transport rather than the obligatory Cadillacs, and departing UFO landing sites in humvees or jeeps. This should not be surprising, given the phenomenon's propensity toward mimicry of the human condition. The fact that they have returned from their improbable reality to trouble our own, however, should be a cause for concern.

One of the most important discoveries in recent times took place in 1999: the mummified bodies of three Inca children sacrificed some five hundred years ago.

Among the facts that give this discovery considerable relevance, we may mention, on the one hand, that these are the first mummies ever to be found at such an elevation and, on the other, that the bodies were so well-preserved that it was possible to make many details of the Inca way of life known through an analysis of the children’s bodies: their nutrition, their pathologies and even their age.

The project was under the direction of the Catholic University of Salta through the High Mountain Institute (Instituto de Alta Montaña) coordinated by Dr. Constaza Cerutti, who co-directed the Reinhard expedtion to the volcanic summit near the city of Salta.

In July 2002, I attended a conference at the 20 de Febrero Club where Constanza Cerutti, along with odontologists Facundo Arias Araoz and Josefina González Diez (who also studied the mummies) presented details about the expedition and the type of studies performed on the mummified children.

The following is a synthesis of the notes I took during said conference and some additional details from Nexo Magazine and from the July 7, 2002 issue of the El Tribuno Newspaper (the article was written by Graciela Arias and Fernanda Abad with photos by Facundo Arias).

Many Inca children were sacrificed and their bodies now lie on the summits of Peruvian mountains and other Andean peaks for over half a millennium – the mark of a theocratic civilization that offered its children as sacrifices to the gods. Their sacrifice was not perceived as death among the Incas, but rather a transition. These children did not cease living—instead they were translated to another sphere where they shared the duty of looking after the living with ancestral spirits and mountain spirits.

A cyclical festivity such as the Capac Raymi or eventual circumstances such as a drought, illness or the death of an emperor, could cause this ritual, known as then “Copacocha”.

The children to be sacrificed were carefully chosen among the newborns of the governing class and prepared for their holy destiny by the priests. The ritual demanded perfect children, and if they could not be found among the ruling class, they would be sought among the general population.

The general belief was that following sacrifice, the girls and boys would become the community’s representatives before the gods and could then intercede for the people. From that moment onward, they were deified.

It is known that these children walked all the way from Cuzco escorted by the priesthood and a large entourage. The journey took about a year to complete.

Following such a significant discovery, projects were carried out to create a museum in which the mummies and the over a hundred artifacts recovered at Llullaillaco could be displayed (with regard to this, I recall that it was reported that the old Mitre ’87 building was going to be restored to this end, to create the Salta Museum of Natural History, which would be inaugurated in April 2002. What became of the project?).

For the time being, the mummies are under permanent custody on the Campus of the Catholic University of Salta as part of the province’s cultural heritage (this has given rise to another problem, since the National University of Salta disputes this honor by virtue of having a School of Archaeology, which the Catholic University does not have. At the time there is a certain amount of friction motivated by this fact).

The children are kept in freezers equipped with their own generators. As an improved safety measure, alarm systems and air-conditioning units were installed, along with thermometers and thermo hydrometers that are checked on a daily basis. Even so, the mummies are removed every six months for only fifteen minutes. During that time, all specialists performing research must work in a highly organized manner.

Dr. Carlos Previgliano took the tomographies (CAT scans) and X-rays. In 1999 he was the Chief of Computer Assisted Tomography for the State. He rendered the following opinion after having studied the mummies:

- The difference with Egyptian mummies is that they are dry and their organs were emptied out. These mummies, on the other hand, are almost intact and are “wet” mummies. Upon seeing them, one expects them to awaken at any moment.

The mummy known as “La Doncella” (the Damsel) has fully braided hair with very small braids. Even today, she appears to be slumbering.

“La Niña del Rayo” (the Lightning Child) was six years old when she was sacrificed; her face was struck a bolt of lightning that caused burns.

Dr. Constanza Cerutti is an fellow of CONICET and honorary director of the Instituto de Investigaciones de Alta Montaña of the Catholic University. The conference kicked off with Constanza Cerutti’s dissertation, explaining the general trends of the expedition and the setbacks faced before the discovery was made.

“From 1996,” she said, “I have dedicated my life to high-mountain archaeology, surveying dozens of Andean peaks and discovering numerous sanctuaries at elevations never before documented by the scientific community. As Co-director of the project spearheaded by Dr. Reinhardt of the National Geographic Society, I have participated in four high-mountain archaeological campaigns in the Province of Salta. Three of them took place in high-altitude shelters desecrated by treasure seekers. Only the Incas had high-altitude shelters (between 5000 and 6000 meters). No other civilization ever achieved this.

Discoveries of mummies at high-elevations have been numerous. For example at the Misty Volcano, six bodies were found, but they had been reduced to skeletons due to the action of fumaroles at the location. This site is located in Southwestern Peru, in Arequipa.

A body was also found in 1905 at Nevado de Chafly. At Nevado de Quehuar, at an elevation of 6000 meters, the burial site of an Inca maiden was discovered, but it was dynamited and ransacked by huaqueros (tomb raiders).

With regard to the place where the sacrifices took place, the ceremonial platform was known as the Ushmo.

As for the Llullaillaco mummies, the word Llu means “the highest”. Llulliaillaco has a permanent glacier on its slopes.

Work at this location began at 4000 meters, starting from the base. It was not known at the time if there was any relation to a sanctuary at the summit. Part of the Camino del Inca exists in the area where the work started.

It took several days to reach the summit. For this reason the trek was undertaken in several stages or stops (at 5600 meters, at 6000, etc.). Fourteen people formed part of the expedition; 9 worked on the summit amidst much wind and snow. It remains the highest archaeological site in the world, to date.

Slides were shown of a double hut found during the ascent, which was perhaps used by the priests before the sacrifice. The straw roof was recovered through pickaxe and shovel work. There was a great deal of frozen terrain at the site where the sanctuary was located, so traditional archaeological spadework was required.

Slides were shown of some of the offerings found at the location, such as necklaces and statues, which showed symbols related to caravans.

The first child was found buried at a depth of 1.70 meters; then the girl, who rested on a narrow tomb that was difficult to excavate. Finally, the Lightning Child’s face was visible. Constanza Cerutti says that this was the most unforgettable moment.

Evacuation of the site was organized through satellite phone. Foam and dry ice were used to preserve the bodies in layers during transportation.

The Instituto de Ciencias de Alta Montaña has summoned specialists in textiles and ceramics, both foreign and local, for advice on how to recover and preserve the treasures obtained.

Studies have established that the children had been consuming coca leaf for many months; this was detected by analyzing hair samples. The studies were done by means of biopsy and later using non-invasive methods. Sonograms discovered their perfectly preserved internal organs.

X-ray studies allowed for identification of internal organs such as lungs, brains, livers and even the pancreas – all of the sound, although shrunken due to the dehydration they had been exposed to. Gall bladders were not found: they dehydrated totally or were atrophied as a result of stress.

It was further learned that the boy suffered from a flat right foot and that the maiden had a lung condition—obliterating bronchiolitis.

The only invasive study performed was the extraction of a small piece of muscle tissue (biopsy) to perform an ADN study. Mitochondria DNA showed that the children were not related on the maternal side. It was also learned that the Maiden’s DNA showed notable similarities with that of a person hailing from Peru’s Valle de Colca and currenly living in Maryland, USA.

CAT scans revealed that the children had been well fed, to judge by the thickness of their adipose tissue. It was also learned that no injuries to the head were found in any of the cases, thus discarding [their deaths] through traumatic blows to the head. The alternative of their being buried alive is compatible with the signs shown by the bodies. It is important to keep in mind that the altitude, extreme cold and exhausting ascent were powerful factors that would induce a stupor and unconsciousness prior to sacrifice.

While the priests danced and kept moving, the children were possibly intoxicated with a beverage that put them to sleep. They still had food in their stomachs, fecal matter in their bowels and blood congealed in their veins.

Dressed and feathered feminine statuettes were found, as well as food: charqui and corn. Wooden cups, coca and textiles were also in evidence.

Thanks to the assistance of Dr. Larry Cartmell from Oklahoma, who researched the alkaloidal residue in the children’s’ hair, it was determined that they had ingested coca for several months. We must recall that coca was considered a sacred food to the Incas and that it accompanied their dead into the other world. To this day, the descendants of those people still make offerings of coca to the earth mother—the Pacha Mama.