The sighting lasted only forty seconds, but it is possibly the only sighting of a UFO in the Dominican Republic in recent years. Just as it is true that some countries or parts of our planet appear to be "UFO prone", there are others that remain ufologically quiet for decades after having had significant case histories involving UFO sightings and encounters and brushes with the paranormal. One of these countries is the Dominican Republic, which experienced a series of "flaps" in the 1970s that attracted international attention, as we shall see from the cases below.

Lost in Antiquity

UFO activity in the Dominican Republic may go as far back as the caves: The island’s early inhabitants have left us a legacy of petroglyphs to be found in the province of Sanamá, depicting unknown artifacts project rays of light and others with clearly detailed ladders coming out their hulls (anthropologists describe these depictions as ceremonial masks and representations of the “cemí” deities of the ancient Tainos, however). These images are hardly unique: Aimé Michel, one of France’s foremost UFO researchers, was prompted to believe that many of the petroglyphs found in French and Spanish caves actually depicted unknown flying objects and not “hunting traps, nets or fences”, as anthropologists would have it.

The island has also enjoyed the distinction of being at the center of a controversy which has raged since the 16th century: whether it was discovered by Columbus during his second voyage to the "New World", or if it was indeed discovered in 1480 by Alfonso Sánchez, master of the hapless caravel Atlante, who left detailed records of his exploration of the island along with a map, which may have come into the Genoese mariner's possession. But not even this controversy has come close to the contemporary furor over the strange objects reported in the skies, seas and land of the Dominican Republic.

A Decade of Intense Activity

November 1972 marked the high point of UFO and paranormal activity over the Dominican Republic. One of the most memorable cases involved the remarkable healing of a woman afflicted with cancer of the stomach following the sudden apparition of an unidentified flying object. On November 6 that year, a prayer service was held at the home Mrs. Ramona de Baez, 45, in the town of Paya on the southern coast of Hispaniola. Some ten people stood in a circle around Mrs. Baez, who lay in bed. Suddenly, one of the guests – a woman named Julia Elvira – reportedly saw a light “like a large star” through the window, approaching the house from a considerable distance until it finally came to rest upon the house, flooding it with light. This event caused a panic among those within, except for Marino Baez, who was leading the prayers. Mr. Baez reportedly “saw an angel” taking him by the hand to lead him back to the ailing Ramona’s bed. There, the luminous entity allegedly placed its hands over the patient’s abdomen, causing her to fall asleep. Five minutes later, Ramona leaped out of bed saying that she no longer felt ill. At no point did the patient ever see the entity – only Mr. Baez’s hands on her stomach and “a cold sensation in her back”. The case became widely known throughout the region, prompting researchers to contact Ramona Baez’s oncologist, Dr. Oscar Espaillat, who confirmed her condition and status, adding that the woman had never returned for further treatment.

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