A Show of Force in Argentina?

By Luis Burgos, Fundación Argentina de Ovnilogía (FAO)

Even as remarks still circulate regarding the astonishing photo of a strange entity in Laguna del Monte (Buenos Aires) taken in March 2010 and which prompted our essay “Los Seres de la Laguna”, a new humanoid event has take place at the very edges of another body of water in Buenos Aires: Vitel Lagoon, less than 70 kilometers distant from Laguna del Monte, in a straight line.

Geographic Location

A little under 150 kilometers south of Capital Federal, along National Route 2 and in the municipality of Chascomús, this body of water has along its shores the well-known Estancia La Horqueta, built as a summer retreat for tourist purposes, covering 7 hectares and with over 70 more hectares of open fields. It was built in 1927 and its current owner, Enrique Pierri, is a great fan of trees and plants, causing it to be surrounded by dozens of different species, among them an 80-year-old Lebanese cedar: the main protagonist of this story.

The Story Begins

June 19, 2009 was anything but a normal day in La Horqueta, as a powerful gust of wind toppled a 20-meter tall Lebanese cedar whose trunk measured over a meter and a half in diameter at its base. It was literally uprooted, constituting a mass weighing two and half tons, including the gigantic piece of earth that was torn out with its collapse. According to witnesses located in the main house, some 100 meters distant, a loud noise was heard when it came crashing. A nearby eucalyptus was also toppled by the wind storm. Over time, its large branches were cut down and lifted by a crane – a device which was unable to make the cedar “stand straight” again, suggesting the need for a “boom-type” machine of greater capacity to undertake the task. Months went by and many tourists took pictures of themselves standing beside the toppled cedar or else on top of it, as a visual souvenir.

Humanoids Appear?

Luis Antonio Pavoni, 36, has been La Horqueta’s caretaker since 2008. He lives there with his family, and after 10:30 p.m. on July 19, 2010, his wife remarked about the insistent barking of the family’s dogs. When he went out to check, he was able to ascertain that they were indeed nervous. Pavoni, jumbo flashlight in hand, noticed that the braver of the animals would not follow him, but rather, only the humblest and kindest dog of the pack joined him in his search. But this dog was barking toward the fallen cedar, some 100 meters away from the house. Pavoni aimed his beam at the location and saw A PAIR OF RED EYES WITH AN EXTERNAL ORANGE HALO (emphasis in the original – SC) some 80 centimeters off the ground and very close to the cedar. Believing that it might be a hare, he went back into the house and grabbed a carbine. When he returned to the original site, he ascertained the presence of TWO ADDITIONAL PAIRS OF EYES BEHIND THE FIRST (emphasis in the original – SC), one beside the other, but somewhat behind the first. He did not notice any silhouettes at all from the three pairs of eyes. Nor did he hear any noises or sounds of any kind whatsoever. Only the barking of his dog, refusing to go near the unknown. After some three minutes, the eyes disappeared and Pavoni returned home.

The Unexplained

Enrique Pierri – the estate’s owner – arrived the next morning, July 20th, and the first thing he asked was: “Who lifted up the cedar?” To which the caretaker replied: “No one.”

Upon visiting the site, the enormous Lebanese cedar now stood upright. Set once more in its place, as though a whole year hadn’t elapsed. And there, without question, is where the mystery begins.

During the “on-site” investigation, we ascertained the existence of three “poles of attraction” or “behavior guidelines”, as our friend Fabio Zerpa calls them: The lagoon, some 120 meters away from the cedar, the ever-present mill, some 100 meters away, and the electric power lines some 70 meters distant from the sight. With these assurances of the “UFO Landing Phenomenon”, we combed the area looking for marks on the ground.

In this order of affairs, we were not surprised when Eduardo Galeano (FAO-Chascomús) detected a strange SEMI-CIRCULAR IMPRINT (emphasis in the original –SC) in an empty field some 120 meters distant from the cedar. It measured 9.60 meters and was almost erased by the passing of time. It had 15 centimeter borders and next to the pluviometer installed on the premises [...] perhaps it was indicating a direct relation to the diminutive entities seen by Pavoni beside the cedar.

Epilogue

We can recall some UFO events in which trees were the main protagonists, such as the famous Ombú tree of the “La Aurora” farm in Uruguay (1976) , but when all is said and done, we are facing an EXTRAORDINARY CASE, perhaps the only one of its kind. Having consulted Quique Mario of CEUFO regarding some similar events in the key province of La Pampa, where the most unusual events of Argentinean UFO case histories have occurred, he said that they never had a similar case in that region. With regard to the probable morphology of the entities, their red eyes – reported by witnesses in 2002 and 2003, are reminiscent of the heyday of the CATTLE MUTILATION epidemic. Around that time, strange animal mutilations also took place in Chascomús. And as a conclusion, entering into the realm of hypotheticals, we can suppose that this new humanoid incursion in Buenos Aires, beyond its own goals which are unknown to us, hoisting the now-famous cedar may ha been A SIGN OF POWER or A SHOW OF STRENGTH (emphasis in the original – SC), much as if any one of us, had upraised or readjusted something that was in our path: a potted plant, for example. Even so, investigation is ongoing....

On-Site Investigation by FAO conducted by:
Eduardo Galeano (FAO Chascomús)
Leonardo Villamea and Cristian Villamea (FAO Quilmes )
Patricio Barrancos, Daniel López and Franco Puglisi (FAO Capital Federal)
Cristian Salvatierra and Luis Burgos (FAO La Plata)

(Translation (c) 2010, S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Guillermo Gimenez, Planeta UFO)