JUNE 1966, MOUNT INCAHUASI, ATACAMA, CHILE

 

This is a rather interesting case but the biggest problem is that we have an account with names but no one that I can find has ever published images of the witnesses nor produced any actual physical evidence that they existed. If anyone in Chile, or elsewhere, has extra information please get in touch -blacktowercg@hotmail.com

 In June 1966, civil servants of the S.N.S. of Serena were sent to Los Morros, a locality at 160 km from Serena and 1500 meters of altitude. One night, two of the civil servants, Astudillo and Muñoz, went to the village of Incahuasi for a medical urgency. They were on the return trip by a clear night with a full moon and without cloud. Whereas the van went up through a zone of turns of the road, having left the lower fog zone, they saw a motionless ball of fire at a few meters. It emitted a strong luminosity and was of a big size, with six protuberances at its periphery. Whereas they started to drive again the UFO moved on with them, in front of them. While arriving at Los Morros and awaking their companions, the latter could see with object which followed them in the air, without the protuberances. Its flight was ascending and at high speed.

Seven months passed, and Dr. Darwin Arriagada proposed to hypnotize civil servants Astudillo and Muñoz, who accepted.

Under hypnosis, Manuel Muñoz Carvajal described:

"There was a very thick fog. We arrive at Tres Cruces. We start to climb the slope of that way. When we arrived at the top, the fog dissipated and we saw a ball of fire cross us. It was like these pellets which one puts in wafers, but large. It crossed from left to the right, namely, from the mountain to the sea. It did that within fifty meters in front of us and turned off. My companion said it was a shooting star. I said that it could not be that, It was like a projection of light which turned off. We continue to go up and arrive towards a light, higher; my companion told me that it was a truck. I answered him that it wasn't; it made a very loud noise. We stopped the van and went down. I was alarmed. It was a large ball, it shone a lot and started to flicker. It was very close to the ground. We go up in the van and continue to advance, I was frightened, it was not a sphere. It approached us; the light which came from this ball illuminated the hood of the van. We still advance a thousand meters and this craft followed us at the same distance. Five from the twenty of us saw it. It was like a nut, it projected rays, a brilliant and then strong and orange light, of a yellow color; and it had two long cables like antennas, which came out by its top. There were changes of lights every half-minute. Under this thing, one noticed like a cabin, there were three motionless heads... I could not sleep. I dreamed that men walked by, who came from the disc. They were green with a round face, large round eyes, half protruding. They were one meter, one meter twenty tall. A very large, round head and a thick neck. They had a broad chest and a narrow belt. The legs were thin, appearing not to have knees."

The other contactee, Luis Astudillo Marin, detailed under hypnosis:

"Then this capsule, I do not know how to give it a correct name, came down a little and one noticed behind the brightness a species of cabin and one saw three heads with helmets."

He did not see these beings out of the vessel, that his companion thinks of having seen in dreams, but both saw the three members of the crew when they were in the fuselage of the ship.

Patrick Grossat URECAT is often very dismissive of these reports so I checked to see what he wrote in Explanation Category. "Extraterrestrial Visitors" -now that had me asking how he concluded  this and here is what he wrote:

"I do suspect that the case could be seen as an "alien abduction" which would be "revealed by hypnosis", but it is rather advisable to make the clear distinction between the two parts, of a different nature, of the case. There is an actual description of something like a craft with three occupants inside, whose helmeted heads are seen by the two witnesses in normal state of consciousness on the one hand, and on the other, elements who significantly appear only from one of the two witnesses, following hypnosis, and he does specify that they are elements of a dream. In the conscious episode, there is no indication of the least loss of consciousness, no "missing time", no landing of the occupants, no contact. This time as in much of the other such cases, the use of hypnosis did not bring up reliable information, only invalid additional elements that blur the case, elements coming from a dream of the witness; which obviously could be caused by the impact of the real experience.

"The conscious part of the case nevertheless remains of high interest, and it is thus unfortunate that the available sources seem rather fragmentary - it can be understood that a much more complete report could have existed."

For me this would be given a Low Credibility rating since although a multi-witness case we have no proof that those witnesses existed and if you know your UFO history you'll know that too many cases looked into never happened and FSR knew this but never corrected the record.

Please, if you know of a fuller report, photographs or anything not includerd in the above get in touch!

"A New South American 'Wave'", by Gordon Creighton,  Flying Saucer Review (FSR),  volume 14, #4, July 1968. This is incorrect as a sources since the article appears in FSR volume 14 no. 5, September/October, 1968

"OVNIs?,  by Dr. Iván Seperiza Pasquali, in the magazine Mundo Mejor, #8, Chile, October 1994.

URECAT  https://ufologie.patrickgross.org/ce3/1966-06-chile-mtincahiasi.htm

The Armando Valdes Abduction That Wasn't..We Think – Five-Day Ordeal, 25 April 1977

 originally posted https://aeceiiikp.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-armando-valdes-abduction-that.html

 When this account was first published in English it made it into the Flying Saucer Review it was somewhat sensationalised but there was never any follow-up which was what FSR, sadly, often did. So cases proven to be hoaxes were left as 'genuine' and are still quoted today because it is easier to quote FSR than do research.

As far as I can find out the Valdes book has not appeared yet, at least there are no mentions on English language sites. The sources I have referred to are: Journal News Online has a shorter version of the above 07 Mar 2022.  The Black Vault reproduces the UFO Casebook article; To save anyone looking the UFO Casebook now seems unavailable. Flying Saucer Review - Vol. 23, N. 5: February 1978. The APRO Bulletin, July 1977 and News Rebeat (online) 13th April 2023

On the 25th April, 1977, at 0400hrs, in Pampa Lluscuma (near Putre -50 air miles ENE of Arica, the larger city in Chile),  Six members of an army patrol saw two bright objects descending from the sky; Cpl. Armando Valdes, the patrol leader, set out alone to investigate and, according to the men, simply vanished. Fifteen minutes later, they said, he reappeared, tried to speak and passed out.

This was what became known as The Arica Encounter.

Corporal Valdes was in charge of a patrol on routine assignment near Putre and he and his six-man patrol were sitting around a campfire alongside a wall of stones and mud at the army post of Pampa Lluscuma. They had been talking and singing for quite a while to stay awake with two of the men keeping watch several feet away. At 0400 hrs one of the men, Private Rosales, ran back to Valdes to report that two bright violet lights had landed, one of which was in sight and illuminated the whole area. The light approached closer.

Valdes ordered his men to cover up their fire with blankets. The violet light with a red spot at each end withdrew and then returned closer and the patrol was described (by themselves) as being terrified.  The UFO was silent as it moved and any unusual noise would have been heard as the Chilean high plateau silent. Corporal Valdes stated “after praying to God and ordering the light to leave . . . after demanding that it identify itself, I moved a few meters away from my men.”

The corporal was watched as he moved toward the object and in front of his men he disappeared.  Fifteen minutes passed with the troopers growing more concerned but the Valdes reappeared.  He was shaking and his voice seemed different as he uttered: "“You don’t know who we are or where we come from but we will be back soon” after this he lost consciousness and for two hours the UFO remained in sight but vanished just as Valdes regained consciousness.

It was while taking care of Valdes that the troopers noticed he had a beard growth equivalent to several days without shaving and yet, before the UFO incident had been clean shaven. As Valdes awoke he told his men that “I don’t remember anything from the moment I left you.”and then ordered, “Get ready to leave because it’s 4:30 in the morning".  In fact it was actually 0700 hrs; his calendar watch had stopped at 0430hrs but the date was five days ahead and showed the 30th  instead of the 25th.

Many of the details were related some two hours after the incident to Pedro Araneda, a correspondent and lecturer. The presence of UFOs was not a surprise to Corporal Valdes as he and others in the interior of Chile near Arica, often saw luminous UFOs moving about the skies. Valdes stated that “The surprising thing was the way it approached us. As soldiers we are trained to deal with any situation. But this phenomenon didn’t seem to have any logical explanation. I would like to regain my memory of those fifteen minutes. I would even like to submit to hypnosis to draw out information about what happened.”

President and Commander in Chief Augusto Pinochet of Chile prohibited further interviews with the soldiers. Medical, psychiatric and eventually hypnotic tests were planned for the members of the patrol to confirm their stories.

In the meantime UFOs were still being reported Arica, Punta Arenas, Santiago, and other locations up and down the 2700 mile length of Chile. 

Above: Valdes at the time around his encounter (c)2024 respective copyright owner

According to the APRO Bulletin: "The time factor in this particular case – increased beard growth and accelerated clock time – are elements which make this case exceptional and worthy of further consideration."  Certainly FSR had a fun time with those aspects of the report.

It is stated that the Valdés Case is the most paradigmatic episode of Chilean ufology and has been dealt with in “La noche de los centinelas” (The Night of the Sentries), an 8-year -long journalistic investigation that looks into background events, locates the protagonists and “uncovers more than one surprise”.  It is stated that the soldiers looked for Valdes but could not locate him until they heard the sub-officer’s voice pleading for help, and they saw him walking toward them unsteadily. He had a dense growth of beard despite having been clean-shaven just minutes earlier, and the calendar on his digital watch was five days fast. This was confirmed by the troopers and the case became a journalistic sensation and achieved global notoriety. 

There is little surprise that within days, its protagonists slipped into obscurity as Chile was under an authoritarian military dictatorship  between the 11th September, 1973 and 11th March, 1990. The dictatorship was established after the democratically elected socialist government of Salvador Allende was overthrown in a coup d'état backed by the United States.  The press and media were not exactly as free as in other countries and the  military were not going to be happy about stories of UFOs kidnapping a corporal with impunity.

Above: (inset) Valdes and the troopers of the patrol (c)2024 respective copyright owner

Twenty-five years later, journalist and researcher Patricio Abuselme took up the challenge of reinvestigating the case and interviewed its main protagonists covered in his book La noche de los sentinelas, an in-depth journalistic investigation on the incident published in late 2010 by Terra Incognita (his own publishing house). No English language version has appeared. He wrote that:

“This is the case that made Chilean ufology known worldwide. However, no one bothered to conduct a serious, in-depth investigation of the case. I took up the challenge in 2002, and it took me eight years to compile the protagonists’ accounts and reassemble this “impossible story,”.

In just under 300 pages, Abusleme provides a comprehensive view of the case from the first journalistic dispatches reporting the incident to exclusive interviews with the main protagonists, including Corporal Valdés (Ret.) uncovering unpublished details. Abusleme writes:

“When I started this investigation, I did so in the secret hope of explaining the whole case in conventional terms. And I thought I was well on the way until the main protagonist of the story debunked the cases most controversial aspects – the growth of his beard and the wristwatch’s date change – by providing conventional explanations.

"The problem is that when I tried to corroborate it with the other witnesses, they provided a version that was mutually congruent, but at odds with the one offered by Valdés. For this reason, the book poses a controversy.

“If someone is looking for a story of mystics in direct contact with Martians, he or she won’t find it here. What they will find is information, information and more information. The outcome of a detailed journalistic investigation that enables the reconstruction of an intriguing real case that captured headlines over 30 years ago.”

In fact these cases are never simple and on the 26th September, 2003, Valdes gave an exclusive interview with Terra.cl. In this interview Valdes claimed that from the start he knew ha had not been abducted; he stated that his story had been misinterpreted, “although the matter of the beard and the wristwatch was true.” That last part is worth noting as it will be referred to again.

Valdes spoke about his current project: a book that should  by the end of 2003  in which he retells his version of the events. The following is from that interview.

Terra: Recently, you have been engaged in discreet research into your experience. Is this true?

Valdes: Yes, in fact I’ve been fully involved in developing my book and furthermore, looking into my experience, since I wish to be as factual as possible in my story.

Terra: As a result of this research, have you returned to the scene of the events?

Valdes: Yes, I went back in November 2002–25 years later… Pampa Lluscuma and the remains of the horse stables where the events occurred. There, in the company of researcher and journalist Patricio Abusleme, we recreated the events and made a series of measurements, gathering very significant background information.

Terra: How did you feel about going back?

Valds: As you can imagine, it was shocking. It was the first time I went back after two decades. It was a motivating experience which allowed me, first and foremost, to confirm or recall certain details which were lost with the passing of time.

Terra: While much was said about the “abduction” of Corporal Valdés, there was none. What’s your version?

Valdes: Truly, I wasn’t abducted. This is the reason for the sensitive nature of what I’m putting forth in the book. Some important background details are being released.

Terra: Did you think at any time that you had been abducted or did you always know this wasn’t the case?

Valdés in the exact spot of the 1977 incident in 2002, when he gave Patricio Abusleme his revisionist version of the case. Image credit: Patricio Abusleme

Valdes: Look, it’s really complicated to explain it all. That’s the reason behind my trip to Putre, my scientific studies and the book I’m writing, because it’s all very complicated.

Terra: But did you think at first that you’d been abducted?

Valdes: I would say that I knew immediately how things had happened. What I’m explaining in my book (are) the reasons for which certain items went off on another track.

Terra: In other words, your initial story was misconstrued?

Valdes: Indeed. I didn’t think at first that I’d been abducted, although the matter of the growth of beard is true, as well as the subject of my wristwatch. But for this reason I have taken to writing the book to explain the reasons behind all of these things.

Terra: Lately you have been silent in the media. Why is this?

Valdes: What’s happening is that I’m engrossed in finishing my book. I wanted to work in silence until the task was done.

Terra: When can we expect the book to be published?

Valdes: Regarding the book itself I say that it’s been a serious mistake to promise dates. Many special situations have occurred–some very strange things–but I’m making an effort to finish it by the end of the year. I’m giving it my all, since I’d like to finish it as soon as possible.

Terra: Any options to publish the book abroad?

Valdes: Yes, there have been offers from abroad, but I don’t want to entertain them until the book is finished. My greatest desire is for everyone to read it, since I have a message for all humankind in it. Therefore its publication in Chile or elsewhere is unimportant. We will decide where to publish it at some point.

Terra: I understand that you are a (born again) Christian and an evangelical. Is this true?

Valdes: Yes, I am, and a teacher of the evangelical faith.

Terra: How have your religious surroundings influenced your story? Or rather, how has your story been received?

News coverage of the Cap Valdés case

Valdes: My story and explanations have been accepted to a certain extent, and I have told them certain things and in a certain manner. There are many who hold points of view different from my own and I don’t have to deny that there are contradictions. But as I said, the story is mine and they have not influenced me at all regarding my book. In fact, there are those who may agree or not agree with my book tomorrow, and will not stop what I’m doing.

Terra: Would you say that the experience you underwent in Pampa Lluscuma was more of a spiritual than a ufological event?

Valdes: There are mixed items. The term UFO today is contaminated by another type of thing, and I prefer to speak in terms of FANI (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena). I think that in my experience there is a bit of everything–a good measure of paranormal phenomena, strange effects, lights, many things acting in unison and this is what I am showing in my book, although it’s been hard for me to convey on paper what I felt, what I experienced and what really happened.

Terra: Finally, are you in touch with those who also took part in the unusual event and who formed part of your patrol?

Valdes: Yes, over the phone more than anything. For some reason we haven’t been able to have a closer relationship, but we are in touch by phone and I must say that we currently have disagreements over the events that occurred. Some are telling another story.

 – Terra Networks Chile S.A

I know it is a little confusing, I must admit that the fact Valdes confirms the watch aspect as well as the sudden growth of beard in 15 minutes, but then denies certain things confuses the issue.  Here is what Valdes claims happens:

Firstly, Valdes continued to support the story of the ball of light (UFO) hovering near the soldiers but told a journalist that he never disappeared inside the UFO. He is now claiming that he left the soldiers to urinate and then stood behind a wall for the key fifteen to twenty minutes of his alleged disappearance.. He claims that he decided to play a trick on the soldiers by pretending to be missing. He explained the beard growth by saying he hadn’t shaved for several days and that his wristwatch didn’t work and that the date change was just a coincidence.

Valdés’ confession is not as simple as it may seem since the other soldiers continue to support the original version but Valdés became a devout evangelical Christian many years ago, a member of the Union of Biblical Centers of Temuco, of which he is now bishop. It is believed that this new found religious belief has made  him recant the original account and it may be why the other soldiers and he are not on friendlier terms though he does occasionally speak to them by phone.  

I have, over the decades, come across cases in which percipients/witnesses will not recant their original account of on board a UFO experience or just a sighting.  However, due to not being able to find easy answers as well as pressure from other people suddenly realise that what happened was either demonic, a religious experience or (becoming born again Christians) a delusion and it made them realise that they needed to find God. Therefore, Valdes becoming an Evangelical Christian wherein UFO encounters tend to be dismissed for various reason, is nothing new and the other soldiers just do not matter.

I find it odd that Valdes claims the beard was due to his not having shaven recently and yet none of the other soldiers realised he had a beard until after the alleged event?  As for hiding when a UFO appeared as a trick -again the logic escapes me. At the same time he has confirmed the beard growth and watch aspects as reported by the soldiers. Is it any wonder that the men are not that close to him?  

"It happened as described but just did not happen as described" shows a mind in some conflict and trying to balance facts and making a mess of things -again, something I have seen in these cases before. One person believed that they were a UFO abductee and gave a detailed account and spoke to me a few times. Then she became a born again Christian and felt it was all demonic and later went back to the abduction but adding and twisting aspects. The problem was that Ufologists she contacted (in the UK) simply dismissed her initial claim as "she has also seen a UFO on more than one occasion". In other words she was a "repeater" and Ufologists were having none of that back in the 1970s and some still will not.

As it stands the Valdes case is still considered genuine but rather than Ufologists muddying the water it is the main percipient. Was the encounter genuine?  For me the fact that Valdes suddenly decided to offer silly explanations and refuted what the other witnesses still insist happened, and yet we have no new information on what supposedly happened in the missing 15 minutes before any religious contamination is added means it gets a Low Strangeness rating.

Sergio Pucheta Entity Encounter

originally posted on the CE3K/AE Study blog https://aeceiiikp.blogspot.com/2022/10/sergio-pucheta-entity-encounter.html

Sergio Pucheta shares his UFO experience: "IT COULD HAPPEN TO ANYBODY"

Above: Pucheta

Treatment: The police officer is currently under psychiatric care within the framework of a "confusional episode". "I'm feeling somewhat nervous; my head aches and my hands itch," said the law enforcement agent who was interviewed Monday by a Barcelona (Spain) radio station. He asked that society "believe his story, since this had never happened to be before, and I didn't believe in any of this before."

     General Pico (Agencia) - Sergio Pucheta, the provincial police corporal involved in an alleged UFO experience, stated yesterday that "this could happen to anybody". It should be noted that the strange episode which had the officer as its protagonist, took place between the evening of March 2nd and early morning on Friday, March 3rd in the rural region of Dorila.

Pucheta, who was hospitalized at the Gobernador Centeno Hospital until noon Monday, only recently got in touch with the local press at his home on 104th and 25th streets where he lives with with his wife (pregnant) and his in-laws.

First, Pucheta showed a video made during the first days of February at a site close to the one where last Thursday's experience occurred. The images taken by the police officer show a round light apparently rotating on its axis.

It should be noted that this video was requisitioned by Minister Tierno in the early hours of Friday the 3rd while the police combed the area searching for the missing officer, who finally "appeared" at around 16:30 hours -- benumbed and in a fetal position -- on a rural road near Quemu Quemu, some 20 kilometers away from the place where his disaappearance occurred.

Moreover, the videotape was also requested by Pampan ufologist "Quique" Mario, who returned to General Pico yesterday to secure further details on Pucheta's ordeal.

Sergio Pucheta met with the media from General Pico at 09:30 hours yesterday, providing details of his experience for over an hour. "I was driving a motorcycle (a Honda 125 cc belonging to the Cattle Rustling Division) and when I reached the wilderness area we call "Las Cañas", I saw a red light similar to that of a car," he explained, adding that upon reaching the site, the light vanished. "Then I got off my motorcycle to see if could hear any noises. When I got back on the motorcycle and was about to put on my helmet, the red light appeared in front of me, against my face and very strong."

He followed by saying that the red light "stood in front of me and sort of hypnotized me," stressing that as a result of this contact he could "only move his hands, nothing else. I couldn't move the rest of my body...it was as if (the light) was going all over my body."

Later, he added that the light rose into the air and caused him "a considerable head and eye ache", a situation the officer tried to escape from, running away on foot into the fields, without recalling ever having dismantled his service pistol or the police walkie-talkie, which was subsequently found at the site together with other belongings, such as a cell phone which lost all of its stored phone numbers, except for the last call Pucheta made to his fellow officers, calling for backup.

The corporal explained that he has worked for the police force for some 8 years and that for the last two he has served in the Cattle Rustling Division (Division Abigeato) engaging in patrols between 19:30 and 22:00 hours along the rural region of Dorila, Speluzzi and Trebolares.

Pucheta also noted that as he ran into the rural field "they were always behind me", in reference to two pursuing entities. He likewise added "I can't recall if I was walking or running" and noted having remembered all of his life in a matter of seconds "from when I was little until now that I'm older, everything good or bad that ever happened to me."

Regarding the "entities" chasing him, he maintained that they "levitated" and described one of the figures as "being smaller than me, somewhat transparent, with a large head and clear red eyes ...the eyes were very red."

He explained that "they were utilizing my mind, as if they were performing tests," which he later described as "life tests" -- "For example, I reached a cornfield, and at a distance of some 10 meters saw a large figure that appeared to be chewing thee corn cobs and was breaking something. I felt very scared and stood there staring at it. It was getting closer and closer and that's when I felt them tell me "either you go forward or backward". Then I stood thinking and walked right past the figure, and the fear sort of left me at that moment," he said.

When asked if the figure could be that of an animal, he said no, because "it was taller than me and much larger".

Meanwhile, Pucheta stated that throughout the experience he was "aware, because I was thinking about my family, in my wife and [our unborn child]...this was something real that was happening to me," adding that he felt great fear throughout the experience, except for when "I began remembering everything I'd ever been through since childhood. That was the loveliest thing that happened to me."

He later said that he currently "feels very afraid about going out at night" and that the entities told him telepathically that "the were going to seize another fellow officer who also travels alone."

With regard to the place from where the police rescued him, he said that he had been "waiting there since the morning. I was there from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon, sitting and waiting" in a place where "no one ever came by".

When asked why he hadn't decided to move away from that spot, he replied: "My feet were paralyzed...I was numb," adding fearfully "they told me that if I spent the day there until the evening, they would come back for me again."

The police officer was unable to explain if the "entities" had taken him somewhere, but he explained that during parts of the distance he covered "it was as though I was in the air" and even remembered having gone past young bull calves "that didn't move", as if the animals were unaware of his presence.

Sergio Pucheta also made it clear during the press conference that his experience is just one of "many cases" recorded in the rural area.

"Previously, my partner and I have seen thousands of those red lights. We once chased one right to the blacktop highway. It was raining and then we never found any traces of it, only our pickup truck."

He added that some two weeks ago "a fellow officer was driving along the access road to Agustoni and saw a light in the middle of the road. He thought it was a car and flashed his headlights at it, but the light wouldn't budge. When he was about to overtake it, the light moved from one side to another and flew straight up."

* Translation (c) 2006. Scott Corrales
Institute of Hispanic Ufology (IHU)

   GENERAL PICO - The disappearance of policeman Sergio Pucheta summoned the presence of a number of researchers, among them renowned Santa Rosa researcher Quique Mario, who has been studying the UFO phenomenon in the province of La Pampa for some 30 years. "Evidently something is going on that merits the attention of the public and the authorities, in order to understand the phenomenon better," he said yesterday during a press interview.

Mario, who followed police combing operations closely in the attempt to find Pucheta, contacted sources at the Centeno Hospital, highlighting that from the onset "there was something strange going on with the officer's disappearance"

Meanwhile, he added that after the officer was found, he managed to speak with Pucheta himself, who was "in a state of very deep emotional shock"
"We visited him with Sheriff Roberto Ayala, the Chief of UR II, and asked him to relax by means of breathing exercises. He began to loosen up and then began to tell his story," Mario explained.

Likewise, the ufologist indicated that Pucheta could not explain "what happened to his gun, his cell phone and his handy" adding that "he was chased by two people with striking characteristics, shorter than he and with red eyes."

Mario remarked that Pucheta's trail "reached some 2700 meters away from the site where the episode occurred" and that the young man "has no idea how he arrived" at the location where he was rescued. Meanwhile, physicians did not find "strange marks on his body", he was expecting Pucheta's improvement in order to go deeper into his experiences.

Finally, Quique Mario stated that the vicinity of La Barrancosa "was one of the few areas of the province in which strange lights appear that I am not familiar with," remarking that "there are many places in which [people] are seeing strange lights of unknown origin."

Thus, he pointed out that "something is going on that merits the attention of the public and the authorities in an effort to understand this phenomenon. There are recent recordings and many photos taken in broad daylight over General Acha, Santa Rosa, Macachin, Riglos and Parra. Evidently something's going on."

* SOURCE: El Diario de la Pampa

* Translation (c) 2006. Scott Corrales

ARGENTINA: UFOLOGIST TO VISIT POLICEMAN IN DISAPPEARANCE CASE

***Policeman recovers and confirms having seen aliens. "I don't want to be taken for a nut," the officer told a friend. Two days ago he claimed seeing two beings with large red eyes who gave him telepathic commands***

     GENERAL PICO (Agencies) - Corporal Sergio Puchetta, visibly recovered from the odyssey he underwent for over 18 hours in which he claimed to have come in contact with aliens, ratified all of his statements yesterday and through close friends asked that "he not be taken for a nut"

Puchetta remains hospitalized in a ward of the Medical Clinic of the city's Centeno Hospital, indicating that he may possibly agree to newspaper requests for an interview on Monday.

The provincial police corporal responded negatively to this newspaper's request to speak to him and obtain his version of the experience he underwent. Through a friend, Puchetta indicated that he preferred to be released from the hospital before getting in touch with the press, although he also expressed his concerns about having to publicize his experience.

I don't want to be taken for a nut, he told his friend, who in turn informed the press that he is "assured and convinced" of Puchetta's mental health.

Other sources indicated that on Saturday, the officer was visibly more tranquil and when asked about the subject, he repeated the story given on the previous day without changing any details whatsoever.

Renowned ufologist Fabio Zerpa took an interest in the policeman's case and announced his intention to travel to [the city] early this week.

Another acknowledged researcher of the UFO subject, Oscar "Quique" Mario of La Pampa, reached the site where Puchetta vanished on Thursday morning and did not conceal his satisfaction at having secured the officer's testimony shortly after he was found.

Mario, who does not conceal his skepticism until having secured solid elements that allow him to validate the experiencer's account, highlighted the credibility of Puchetta's statements which are further qualified by the nature of his employment.

* Translation (c) 2006. Scott Corrales
Institute of Hispanic Ufology (IHU)

_________________________________________________________

UPDATE 09 09 2023

I have now spent a long time messaging, emailing Argentinean Ufologists including Fabio Zerpa and Scott Corrales and have not received a single response. This leads me to give the case a rather low classification. 

There are sites that copy and paste the account (including from this blog and I know as I caught a typo which has now been corrected) and these range from "Don't believe it" and "how ridiculous" conclusions from internet pseudonyms who have not investigated and, it seems, that they do not need to since they are all knowing about anything and nothing. The only update I have found was this on the Out There with Ted blog:

http://outtherewithted.com/beings/articles/police-officer-never-recovers-encounter-red-eyed-beings

Police officer forced to retire after alleged encounter with "red-eyed beings"

By Ted Bonnitt on May 19th, 2014

A police officer in Argentina has been given an early retirement years after his alleged disturbing encounter with "red-eyed beings" that he is reportedly unable to recover from.

Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology, citing sources from Planeta UFO and Realidad OVNI, reported this week that the police officer claimed that he was pursued by the strange entities who "gave him commands" during his ordeal. The officer was so traumatized by his encounter that he never was able to return to work, and now faces mandatory retirement eight years later.  

Important details appear to be missing from the story, perhaps due to multiple iterations and translations of the original reports from Argentina (my emphasis -THS). What can be pieced together, follows:

At 9:30 PM on March 2, 2006, Police officer Luis Sergio Pucheta was on motorcycle patrol for cattle rustlers between the towns of General Pico and Quemú Quemú, in central Argentina. 

Pucheta was about 12 miles southeast of Pico near the town of Dorila, on a rough road in an area known as “El cruce de cañas” when he radioed to police headquarters that “something strange was going on," and requested support. Pucheta last reported that he was investigating the situation when radio contact with the officer was lost.

Pucheta vanished for hours. A large scale dragnet was soon underway, with high level officials including area police Commissioner Ricardo Badaux; Minster of Safety, Interior and Justice Dr. Juan Carlos Tierno, and police Inspector Roberto Ayala joining the search.

The 31 year-old Pucheta, father-to-be and well regarded by his superiors, was found hours later by a farmer about 12 miles from where he first reported trouble. He was lying on the side of a road, in the fetal position with his extremities in a rigid position, evidence of severe emotional shock. 

When his police superiors arrived on scene, Inspector Ayala attempted to speak with Pucheta, who was not responsive. Ayala eventually helped Pucheta to relax a bit with breathing exercises, but the officer insisted in concealing his face.

Pucheta told Ayala that he was followed all night by two entities with "red eyes." He described his pursuers, saying, “They looked transparent…and had red eyes…their eyes made my head hurt…they told me what they wanted me to do…they made me make a phone call…they told me they would come for me tonight.”

The officer told investigators that he initially saw something that prompted him to unholster his side arm. He evidently dropped his two way radio and cell phone in the panic of the moment and fled. Pucheta later did not recall dropping his firearm.

Pucheta said that he fled the area because the red-eyed entities were following him.

According to a report prepared by a researcher of the case, Quique Mario, Pucheta eventually stood up and began to weep, never revealing his face to the others. He would not open his eyes.

Pucheta repeated how the creatures had red eyes and that, "They would come for him at night.”

The shocked officer said that his fingers and feet were "burning." The investigating officers saw no physical evidence of damage to the victim's hands but the soles of his feet had blisters consistent with having walked a long distance.

Officer Pucheta was found by a farmer on the side of a road.

An ambulance arrived with a doctor and transported Pucheta to a hospital, who laid face down on the stretcher for the entire ride. He was held 24 hours for observation and no physical injuries were found. Pucheta never returned to work again.

As reported by sources, without any corroborating witnesses accounts or physical evidence to support his claims, the case hinges on the sole testimony of Officer Pucheta. This draws possible explanations including his filing a false report, suffering a psychotic break or possible drug related hallucinations. If Pucheta's account is genuine, the lack of evidence poses an additional emotional burden for the officer, who may have endured skepticism by others about his claims. 

Possible support for his claims comes from other sighting reports of  "red-eyed" beings in the area since the 1990s, with some witnesses comparing them to "two burning coals."

Original translation from spanish: © 2014, S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Guillermo Giménez, Quique Mario, Julio Gonzalez, www.diariotextual.com and www.misteriosenlaweb.blogspot.com.ar.

On the Neoseeker forum where the original account was given the following 'expert' opinions were given:

Braden "Aliens with read eyes that levitate?  It would have been more realistic if he described as something similar to human beings."

Tballa "Sounds corny and made up to me. I really doubt this story ever happened."

Well, Braden showed his total lack of knowledge of the subject and  Tballa...showed total lack of IQ let alone analysis.

This is how it stands as of today (09 09 2023) and unless someone out there can come up with more detail or any information on post 2006 reporting this one is noted but given low credibility.

Why are these "Truth Seekers" so opposed to sharing information -would that make the case less lucrative?