FATE 2007 -September
In a 2002 article titled “Ovnis en Jujuy,” the editors of Gaceta OVNI magazine, while discussing UFO-prone northern Argentina, allowed for a slight trans-border detour to discuss unknown phenomena in Bolivia. One of these cases was the story provided by a young woman named Dina Angulo, concerning the UFO experiences of her grandfather near Villazón, Bolivia, some 70 years ago.
In the spring of 1930, Ms. Angulo’s grandfather lived on a remote farm in a mountain valley near the community of Tupiza, 100 miles away from where the 1978 Tarija UFO crash occurred. Part of the hard, unrelenting life of an Andean farmer required going to find his animals along steep mountain trails to bring them home and to butcher. As ice from the thawing glaciers caused rivers to swell, the farmer found himself cut off by a swollen river, requiring him to spend the night under the cold stars. Accompanied by his dog, the man erected a hasty shelter and lit a fire, and soon found himself surrounded by the very goats and jackasses he had gone to find.
Humanoids
Suddenly, Ms. Angulo’s grandfather saw the entire mountain landscape lit up by a powerful light. He had never seen such brightness, not even by daylight. Terrified, he ran off to find cover under some low-lying trees. His animals scattered in every direction while the odd light source engulfed everything in its supernatural radiance. Some 20 meters away from his place of concealment, the farmer was able to see four humanoid figures, which he described as nimble and able to make long jumps. The light suddenly went off and the odd little men vanished with it. According to Dina Angulo, her grandfather was found two days later, rooted to the site in fear, gripped by a nervous condition. It was only with the passing of time that he was able to recall the details of his ordeal, which predated the start of the modern UFO age by 17 years.
Pedro Serrate was walking along the banks of the Mamoré River in 1953 when he became aware of a discoid object some 150 feet away from him. The strange vehicle appeared to be fashioned of an azure, vitreous material. Curiosity getting the better of him, Serrate got closer to the craft and was able to catch a glimpse of its human-looking crew complement. When the uniformed humanoids, caught off-guard, became aware of Serrate’s presence, the vehicle rose silently into the air, disappearing in a matter of seconds.
Patricio Parente’s monograph De Luces y Criaturas IV: La Conexión OVNI (Of lights and creatures: the UFO connection) notes that the Aymara mythology of Bolivia features tales of the auchanchos, bald, potbellied little men who leap about in the night, creating whirlwinds and braying like donkeys. One particular Aymara tradition holds that these little men had once been seen running down the streets of Chuchuito, riding tongues of fire, heading toward Lake Titicaca and crossing it, vanishing thereafter. Could these entities have been the ones witnessed by Dina Angulo’s grandfather? Stories of lights emerging from the waters of Lake Titicaca have also been reported.