Spanish Pilots and Military Don't Stay Silent After Seeing UFO
UFO encounters span centuries in Spain, from an 18th-century street vendor’s documented sighting in Holy Inquisition records to modern-day military and aviation incidents that have left both witnesses and investigators puzzled. This article explores the wave of sightings in the 1970s, dramatic military base encounters, and the historic 1979 commercial flight incident that resulted in the first UFO-related emergency landing, demonstrating Spain’s significant role in UFO history.
18th Century UFO Sighting
One of the earliest recorded incidents dates back to 1703, when a street vendor named Alejandro Lothergalissimo reported a remarkable encounter in La Jara, Ciudad Real. According to town archives discovered in the year 2000, Alejandro witnessed a luminous sphere descending from the sky, emitting a beam of light that temporarily paralyzed him. Under questioning by the Holy Inquisition, George Mitrovic the author of the book UFOs, Humanoids and Strange Phenomena of Andorra, Gibraltar, Spain and Portugal believed that questioning likely involved torture. This forced Alejandro to recant his story, claiming he fabricated it. However, given the era’s religious climate, where such accounts risked accusations of devil worship, his retraction may have been a survival strategy, after which he was released with instructions to remain silent about the incident.
First Ufologist from Spain
The foundation of modern Spanish ufology can be traced to Antonio Ribera, whose personal encounter in 1930 shaped his future as a prominent researcher. At just ten years old, Ribera experienced a close encounter with a small humanoid figure bathed in green light in his bedroom. This event sparked a lifelong dedication to UFO research, leading him to publish “The Great Enigma of Flying Saucers” in 1966. Ribera’s multilingual abilities and background in underwater exploration allowed him to investigate both aerial and submerged unidentified objects, making him a pioneer in comprehensive UFO research in Spain.
The Michelin Man Sighting Encounter 1960
In early summer 1960, schoolteacher Don Miguel Timermans Ceballos encountered two strange humanoid entities while riding his motorcycle in Spain’s Cadiz region. At around 1 PM, he spotted a six to seven-foot-tall figure, completely red in color, moving stiffly like a mechanical doll about 50 feet ahead on the road. After stopping his motorcycle, he witnessed a second, slightly shorter figure appear and join the first one. The second entity wore a single black boot on one foot.
As Timermans watched, both figures crossed the white earthen road, their forms clearly visible and displaying distinctive ringed outlines reminiscent of the Michelin Man mascot. When he cautiously approached on his motorcycle, the entities had vanished completely. The entire encounter lasted approximately 30 seconds, and though Timermans considered searching for the beings, he decided against it as he was alone. This case was documented in the June 1980 APRO Bulletin by Miguel Peyro Garcia, and similar Michelin Man-like figures have been reported in other global UFO encounters such as in France, England, and in the USA.
The year 1974
March 20, 1974 brought multiple UFO sightings across Spain. At 11 AM, salesman Adrian Sanchez reported a 500-foot airship releasing three smaller craft near Castillo de las Guardas, with one pursuing his car. That evening in Gerena, Antonia Diaz Romas witnessed an egg-shaped craft landing near her home, emitting bright light and revealing two dark figures inside.
A week later on March 27, teenager Pedro Aguilar and friends in Cadiz saw a 60-foot oval craft with rotating lights hovering overhead. Late March brought truck driver Maximiliano Inglesias’s encounter near Salamanca with multiple saucer-shaped objects and humanoid figures.
The wave continued into June when Santiago Romero experienced a 90-minute encounter near Medellin Castle with a cone-shaped craft containing three tall beings visible through its transparent bottom. The craft responded to his headlight signals until dawn.
Talavera UFO Incident
In the Flying Saucer Review published in February 1978 it reported that on November 12, 1976, a routine night at Spain’s Talavera la Real Air Base turned extraordinary when soldiers Jose Maria Trejo and Juan Carrizosa encountered an unexplained phenomenon during their sentry duty. The incident began around 2:00 AM with an unusual sound that evolved from radio-like interference into an intensely painful whistle. After conducting an initial search, they were confronted by a brilliant light illuminating the ground, lasting about 20 seconds before vanishing.
The encounter escalated when a third soldier, Jose Hidalgo, joined with a military guard dog to investigate. The area was affected by a localized whirlwind, and the guard dog, usually reliable, returned from its reconnaissance frightened and disoriented. The situation reached its peak when the soldiers encountered a 10-foot tall humanoid figure emitting a green glow, described as being composed of small points of light with unusually long arms and a helmeted head. When Trejo attempted to fire at the entity, he became paralyzed and collapsed, while his fellow soldiers fired 40–50 rounds at the figure. The figure, according to the witnesses, simply faded away like a television image turning off.
The incident brought significant consequences, particularly for Trejo, who suffered severe health complications including headaches, vomiting, and vision problems that required multiple hospitalizations. The Spanish Air Force launched an official investigation, documenting ground impressions and electromagnetic anomalies at the site. Despite extensive medical examinations at both Badajoz Hospital and the Air Force Hospital in Madrid, doctors could only attribute Trejo’s ongoing symptoms to “nervous maladjustment,” leaving many questions unanswered about this remarkable military encounter.
The 1976 Canary Islands sighting
On June 22, 1976, at 9:27 PM, hundreds of people witnessed sightings over La Palma of a bright luminous object that shifted colors between yellow and white. The phenomenon was observed across multiple islands including Tenerife, Gran Canaria, and Fuerteventura, caught the attention of both civilians and military personnel, notably Spanish Air Force Captain Rafael Farina. His official report described a “luminous mass” traveling at approximately 150 km/h at an altitude of 2,000 meters, with the object being simultaneously tracked on radar at Gando Air Base in Gran Canaria. The incident, lasting about 40 minutes, generated significant media coverage and prompted an official military investigation.
Among the numerous witness accounts, one particularly stood out and added a controversial dimension to the case. Dr. Francisco Julio Padrón León, a physician from Gáldar, reported a drastically different experience from the typical distant aerial phenomenon descriptions. While making a house call to the Las Rosas neighborhood, he claimed to have encountered a 30-meter transparent sphere at close range, within which he observed two 3-meter tall beings dressed in red suits operating control panels. His account became increasingly detailed over time, expanding to include claims of experiencing psychic effects, unusual cellular-level cold sensations, and even acquiring enhanced medical abilities following the encounter.
Years later, authorities would attribute the sightings to two Poseidon missile launches from the USS Von Steuben submarine, positioned 762 kilometers west of the islands.
Manises UFO incident
On November 11, 1979 flight JK-297, piloted by Captain Francisco and co-pilot Jose, encountered two mysterious red lights while cruising at 23,000 feet during what began as a routine flight from Salzburg, Austria to Tenerife, La Palmas, Spain. The lights pursued their aircraft with such persistence that the pilots were forced to make an unprecedented emergency landing at Manises Airport. Captain Francisco, an experienced pilot, reported seeing a cone-shaped object displaying bright, changing colors and demonstrating extraordinary maneuverability with speeds exceeding Mach 1.4.
The Spanish Air Force responded by dispatching an F-1 Mirage fighter jet, whose pilot also made visual contact but was unable to get closer to the object for inspection. Though government authorities attempted to explain the incident as gas flares from oil refineries or astronomical phenomena like a bright star. The event was corroborated by multiple sources, including radar confirmations from Valencia and Barcelona air traffic controllers, civilian witnesses, and clear weather conditions that ruled out meteorological explanations.
What sets Spanish UFO cases apart is the willingness of witnesses, including military personnel and pilots, to publicly share their experiences with full identification. This openness, combined with detailed documentation and multiple witness accounts, has contributed significantly to the field of ufology. From the historical archives of the Holy Inquisition to modern radar data, Spain’s UFO encounters continue to provide valuable insights into the persistent mystery of unidentified aerial phenomena.
Sources
UFOs, Humanoids and Strange Phenomena of Andorra, Gibraltar, Spain and Portugal by George Mitrovic
https://english.elpais.com/cat/2016/11/11/catalunya/1478881679_067169.html
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