What would prove to be one of the best-documented UFO “flaps” of the decade began on November 28, 1995 in Galicia (the autonomous region occupying Spain’s northwestern corner), when the security cameras of the As Gándaras military facility captured several UFOs on film, causing concern among the Spanish military.
The media soon learned that soccer players at a nearby field had also seen the mysterious objects. UFOlogist Marcelino Requejo was quick to stress that the As Gándaras sighting was by no means an isolated incident, and that “a veritable flood of sightings” was taking place in the region, coinciding with seismic disturbances—approximately 70 in that month alone.
The UFOlogist’s prediction would come true in January 1996, when sightings multiplied throughout northern Spain. Citizens of Pedrona (Santander) were treated to the passing of a brightly-lit oval object over their town. The coastal city of Gijón reported a UFO hanging over the sea at night—its multicolored lights dispelling the darkness. In the Galician village of As Pontes, cameraman Bartolomé Vázquez filmed the maneuvers of a triangular UFO which he described as an “upside down steam iron.” This episode was considered to be one of the most significant, given that the cameraman had managed to capture two jet fighters in pursuit of the slow-moving triangle. Yet the most spectacular one occurred at Monforte de Lemos, where a local camera crew filmed hundreds of witnesses absorbed in contemplation of a massive oval UFO which remained suspended overhead for an hour. Other television crews filmed UFO maneuvers over sensitive locations like the ENDESA thermoelectric plant at As Pontes.
The phenomenon entered its proactive phase on February 26, 1996, when motorist AndrĂ©s Landeira, driving at night toward the city of Lugo, found that his car was being drawn upward by an unknown force. In a panic, Landeira opened the car’s door to jump out, but found he was at least thirty feet above the ground. He would later tell UFO invesigator Manuel Carballal, “I forced myself back into the driver’s seat and thought I was going to die, being taken to God knows where…” However, the force that picked up the car deposited it further along the road, but in a sideways manner.
Like the classic UFO flaps of earlier decades, the Galician wave followed the classic pattern of sightings, ground effects, and occupant encounters. On February 18, 1996, two children playing in the woods outside Entrimo reported seeing a trio of luminous spheres which merged to form “a pair of saucers on top of each other” before vanishing. The youngsters also claimed having found clearly non-human footprints upon returning the next day; investigators ascertained that the marks corresponded to a creature standing at least 7 feet tall.
On March 7, 1996, JosĂ© Manuel Castro, a rancher from the town of FerrerĂas, saw a UFO land on his property a mere 100 feet away from his house. Small creatures “looking like monkeys” emerged from the object, and the vehicle left surface impressions and footprints similar to those found at Entrimo.
—SCOTT CORRALES