The Palace of the Government in Cuernavaca, Mexico. (image credit: Adrián Flores/Wikimedia Commons)

Luis Echeverría Alvarez

UFO sightings by heads of state are always an important milestone because it shows that this phenomenon reaches all walks of walks of life, including politicians and national leaders. The sightings of two American presidents, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, are well known, and now we can add one by Luis Echeverría Alvarez, who served as president of Mexico between 1970 and 1976. The story comes from Pedro Ferriz, a pioneer Mexican ufologist, radio broadcaster and author, who alluded to it as far back as 1978 in his book Los OVNI y la Arqueología de México (UFOs and Mexican Archaeology).

While mentioning some dealings he had with the Mexican president Gustavo Días Ordaz in the 1960s, regarding a UFO petition to his government, Ferriz wrote in this book: “I also had a long informal conversation with the licentiate Luis Echeverría Alvarez, about his personal observation of a UFO in Cuernavaca, together with the licentiate Cervantes del Río, his wife, and the great Mexican choreographer Amalia Hernández. A single sighting can be more convincing than reading a thousand books.” (The term licenciado—licentiate—is used very often in Mexico and other Latin countries, meaning basically someone who holds an academic degree.)

Born in 1922 in Mexico City, Echeverría is a lawyer and career politician with the PRI (Spanish acronym for the Institutional Revolutionary Party), which ruled the country for decades following the Mexican Revolution of the 1910s. He rose in the PRI hierarchy by serving as personal secretary of the party president, General Rodolfo Sánchez Taboada, following by appointments as Secretary of the Navy, under-secretary of Public Education and eventually Secretary of the Interior (called in Mexico Minister of Government) during the administration of Díaz Ordaz in the 1960s. He won the presidential campaign as the official PRI candidate on July 5, 1970 and was inaugurated President of Mexico on December 1, 1970.

President Echeverría’s Cuernavaca UFO sighting

Pedro Ferriz

I recently came across a more complete account of the president’s UFO sighting in an article written by Pedro Ferriz titled, “El apagón de Cuernavaca. El ovni que vio un presidente” (The Cuernavaca blackout, the UFO seen by a President), published in the official website of the Mexican Association of Communication Media (AMMC), which you can read in Spanish here. As far as I know, it has never been reported in English until now. Ferriz begins describing how he graduated as a lawyer at the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) as part of the 1939 generation which included many prominent political and cultural figures, even future presidents. After mentioning some of these characters, he goes on to describe a breakfast of broadcasters with President Luis Echeverría during the fourth year of his term, 1974, which he attended as former president of Mexico’s National Association of Broadcasters. The conversation touched upon many subjects, eventually getting into UFOs, which all the attendees knew was a topic dear to señor Ferriz. The tone was light-hearted and it seemed the issue was going to be dismissed as a joke when the president frowned and simply said, “I have seen a UFO.” There was a sudden silence in the room as the broadcasters weren’t sure if the president was joking or not. Echeverría then proceeded:

The other day, on the night of the blackout, we were in Cuernavaca with Amalia Hernández (the great Mexican choreographer, founder of the Folkloric Ballet of Mexico) and my wife María Ester, on the terrace of the modest house that I have in Cuernavaca. Suddenly we saw something like an illuminated pen, a UFO, that is what we call a mothership [that seems to be a commentary by Ferriz], on the horizon, which provoked the blackout in Cuernavaca. The craft didn’t move from there and I told an assistant, ‘talk to licentiate Reyes Heroles,’ who lived in another house next to them. ‘The licentiate said he already saw it.’ And thus there we were looking at that really unusual phenomenon, and I thought about you—he said—then Pedro was right.” Everyone was astonished at what licentiate Echeverria had just said.

Amalia Hernández, famous Mexican choreographer and dancer amd founder of the Folkloric Ballet of Mexico. (image credit: Clarín Veracruzano)

If that is not enough, Ferriz then describes a different meeting that took place a couple of months earlier in which President Echeverría described exactly the same event. Ferriz was not present this time but was told about it by an acquaintance, Jorge Z. de la Colina and his wife Lupita, daughter of a famous Mexican broadcaster. They went on to describe the inauguration by President Echeverría of an apartment complex of an outfit known as ISSSTE (acronym for Institute for Welfare and Social Services of State Workers). There were about 200 people and following the inauguration ceremonies they gathered at the dining facilities of the complex for some refreshments. It was at this point that Echeverría said, “What would you think of a president who has seen a UFO?” And then he answered, “Well, that he is possibly mad. Well, then you have a mad president because Amalia Hernández, my wife María Ester and I saw a UFO on Sunday.” He then proceeded to tell the sane story repeated in the breakfast with the broadcasters a couple of months later.

The 1965 blackout

Luis Echeverría Alvarez in Chiapas in 1974. (image credit: Periodismo Contemporáneo)

The Ferriz article is quite clear about President Echeverría and several other witnesses, including the founder of the Folkloric Ballet of Mexico, Amalia Hernández, observing a cigar-shaped luminous object which apparently triggered a power blackout in the city of Cuernavaca, capital of the state of Morelos. The exact date of the incident is not mentioned, although from the wording it would seem to be a short period before the two statements made by the president sometime in 1974. I looked for a UFO incident with a blackout in Cuernavaca in 1974 on the web, at our library in Open Minds and in my own personal archives, but found none. I did find, however, a case that fit perfectly—a multiple-witness sighting linked to a power blackout in Cuernavaca reported widely in the Mexican press—except that this one took place on the night of September 23, 1965. According to an article published on September 24 by the Mexican newspaper Ultimas Noticias, “a strange phenomenon never seen before was observed last night here [in Cuernavaca] on three opportunities: electric power was cut without cause and when the city was in darkness, an intense light first silvery which then turned red, illuminated the sky over the city.”

The article proceeds to list a number of prominent individuals who saw the phenomenon, including Joaquín Díaz González, president of the Lion’s Club, Emilio Riva Palacio, governor of Morelos state, Valentín López González, the mayor (called in Mexico Municipal President) of Cuernavaca, General Rafael Enrique Vega, chief of the 24º military zone, and others. Some of the VIPs were attending a dinner at the Lion’s Club in honor of Cristóbal Zepeda, general manager of the Commerce Bank, when the phenomenon occurred. Others like the governor, mayor and chief of the military zone were in a movie theater watching a private screening. They left the building when the blackout put a stop to the film. It would be hard to find a list of more important people in a city than the governor, the mayor, the military chief and the top business leaders. The question is whether we can now add to this list that of a future president of the republic. At the time of the 1965 Cuernavaca blackout, Luis Echeverría was Secretary of the Interior in the Díaz Ordaz administration, which is the number two job in the Mexican administrative hierarchy.

Pedro Ferriz (right) in a radio interview with Roberto S. Contreras Esparaza (image credit: Roberto S. Contreras Esparaza)

The wording of the Ferriz article implies the Echeverría UFO sighting took place in 1974 but the evidence points to 1965. Some ambiguity is allowed since the president’s quotes are not based on official transcripts or published documents but on recollections written many years later. Besides, Ferriz himself provides an important clue when he ends his article with this sentence: “This affair of the Cuernavaca blackout was confirmed to me by the governor who was at the time don Emilio Riva Palacio. This in general terms is the affair of the Cuernavaca blackout.” Riva Palacio was precisely one of the top officials listed by Ultimas Noticias as one of the witnesses to the event. He was governor of Morelos state for the PRI between 1964 and 1970.

The province of Salta is highlighted in northwestern corner of Argentina.

There is a long history of power blackouts linked to UFO sightings, particularly in Latin America, but there is rarely conclusive evidence or first-hand witnesses that can clearly link the two events. Although the investigation is still ongoing, a UFO incident on November 26th in the small city of Joaquin V. Gonzalez in northwestern Argentina, which was followed by a power blackout that affected an area of 200 square Km., appears to be the exception. Here we have a sighting that was seen by several hundred witnesses. A few minutes later, a power blackout hit the whole area.

The case was reported in several Argentine newspapers and websites, but the most thorough investigation so far was published by Mercedes Casas of OVNISALTA (UFOs in Salta), with whom I’ve been in touch via email and telephone. Salta is a province in northern Argentina bordering Bolivia and Chile, where the town of Joaquin V. Gonzalez (population of 20,000) is located in the department (county) of Anta; it’s also the name of the capital of the province. The second key spot in the trajectory of the UFO is the electric power plant, dam and reservoir of El Tunal in the neighboring dept. of Metan, which is where the power outage took place. There is very important testimony of the apparent interaction between the UFO and the turbines just prior to the blackout, which is highly unusual in ufological literature. This Google satellite map shows the trajectory of the UFO, but let’s looks at the facts in a chronological order.

The path the UFO took from JV Ganzalez to the dam near El Tunal. The resevoir with the dam can be seen in the bottom left hand corner. (image credit: Google/Mercedes Casas)

Casas reconstruction of the UFO sightings. (image credit: Mercedes Casas)

Argentinian UFO Investigator, Mercedes Casas.

The incident began shortly after 1 am on Thursday, November 26th. A lot of people were outdoors eating ice cream, drinking soda and otherwise trying to weather out a very hot night on the town of J. V. Gonzalez. Suddenly, according to a report prepared by Antonio Galvagno, a pilot and local UFO expert, a huge, luminous cigar-shaped object appeared in the sky and remained visible for approximately 55 minutes. The UFO was pulsating with red and white flashes and no sound was heard. It then moved in a southwesterly direction toward the electric power plant and dam of El Tunal in the neighboring department of Metan, which is about 35 Km away from the town. At this point, a total power blackout hit the town of J. V. Gonzalez and an area of about 200 square Km. The power outage lasted for about 12 hours and the telephone lines were also dead.

The local power company EDESA (Empresa de Electricidad de Salta) had no immediate explanation for the blackout. On the following day they found a burned out turbine (according to Galvagno it was practically melted) but there was no explanation as to how that happened either, since all the equipment was working fine prior to the incident. Mercedes Casas clarified that this is an agricultural area (mostly devoted to soy bean) with low energy consumption, so power outages are not common.

UFO investigator and pilot, Tony Galvano. (image credit: Mercedes Casas)

In another spot north of J. V. Gonzalez called Las Lajitas, Galvagno reported that a row of five power poles had their tops totally burned out and the cables cut. During her investigation of the case, Mercedes Casas ran into a crew from the power company who were replacing the burned out poles, who agreed to talk so long as their names were not used in her report. Mercedes said “one of the employees told us that they don’t have an explanation for what he saw, five poles in line burned exactly at the same height; lightning can burn one pole, perhaps two, but not five.”

Another interesting detail reported by Galvagno and corroborated by Casas, who has interviewed about 25 witnesses so far, is that during the sighting people felt numb and one teenager even said he felt paralyzed. Cell phones and digital cameras also malfunctioned and that’s why no photos or videos of the UFO have emerged so far. There is one image used in this report and elsewhere on the web that purportedly shows the cigar-shaped object over J. V. Gonzalez, but it’s not clear who took it. Mercedes Casas has been unable to verify it. “I was told that there are three people who have footage, one is a supervisor of the dam, but I haven’t yet been able to find them,” she said in our interview.

An aleged picture of the UFO over JV Gonzalez.

Witness drawing of the UFO. (image credit: Mercedes Casas)

Second witness drawing of the UFO. (image credit: Mercedes Casas)

A cross section of the dam at El Tunal.

Probably the most interesting report obtained by Mercedes came from a bookseller from Tucuman who was fishing with friends on the man-made lake next to the power station when the incident occurred. According to this witness, while they were fishing they suddenly noticed a whitish or yellow light all around them; as they looked up they noticed a huge object hovering over the turbines and emitting a rumbling “mmmmmm” sound. He estimated the UFO had a length of between 200 and 300 meters. He then described how the object threw beams over the turbines and beams could also be seen coming from the turbines to the UFO. The whole operation was accompanied by a sound like that of “several machines working in tandem,” according to the witness. This process lasted a few minutes and then the UFO made a big flash and left the area at great speed. That’s when the power blackout occurred, which seemed to also affect their flashlights and cell phones. When they drove to El Tunal a few minutes later they noticed the whole town was in shock.

El Tunal Dam.

Mercedes mentioned a similar testimony that she obtained while investigating a crop circle case in Chicoana in 2008, which is about 200 Km away from J. V. Gonzalez. “I interviewed some field workers in a tobacco farm and they mentioned that there was an object in October of last year [2008] that was doing the same thing: it emitted beams towards the earth and from the earth there were flames going upwards; there are small dams used by farmers in this area.”

I asked Mercedes if there had been any official reaction to the incident from the police or local authorities. She talked to the local police (Gendarmería) and while some of them had seen the phenomenon, they stated they “had not received any official request to investigate the case nor had they seen any foreigners [in the area] as it often happens when there are physical traces or a crash.” Likewise, the power company EDESA didn’t provide any satisfactory explanation for the blackout and they “didn’t confirm or deny the UFO sighting.”

As a tentative conclusion for the importance of this case, Mercedes said that it fulfilled the first two of three parameters for a valid sighting given by the late Dr. J. Allen Hynek, an astronomer who consulted for the US Air Force’s Project Blue Book, and later founded the Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS) :

1. An object seen by a large number of people not linked with each other.
2. It is observed in different places located at a considerable distance.
3. Seen in daytime.

Silvia Perez Simondini at the UFO Museum (Museo OVNI) in Victoria, Argentina. (image credit: Visión OVNI)

The cigar-shaped object returned to Joaquin V. Gonzalez on December 15, reported the local newspaper Diario Popular, but this time in broad daylight. The newspaper quoted Silvia Perez Simondini, director of the UFO group Visión Ovni and founder of the UFO Museum in Victoria, capital of the province of Entre Ríos. “The phenomenon was recorded on Tuesday the 15th [December] at 17:00 hours and was seen by a considerable segment of the population,” said Silvia Perez, adding that “witnesses interviewed by researcher Tony Galvagno stated that what they saw [on this occasion] was identical to the one seen days earlier, but this time without lights.”

Mercedes Casas added a few more details about this last event: “The sighting lasted a shorter time, approximately 5 minutes. I interviewed a kid who described it as an elongated and silvery thing that shined a lot. Mr. Galvagno told me that once again cell phones and [electric] power were cut.” Galvagno is working on a theory linking the UFO sightings around J. V. Gonzalez with climate change and has recruited the assistance of a meteorologist in Buenos Aires. Those who can read Spanish should check the OVNISALTA website here www.ovnisalta.com.ar for Mercedes Casas’ updates on her investigation, otherwise continue to check here at OpenMinds.tv. Undoubtedly, something very strange is going on in the skies over Argentina.