By
Ufology, for lack of a better term, took an unprecedented twist early this month when two South American nations agreed to formally collaborate on cracking the nut. As Uruguayan air force Col. Ariel Sanchez told El Observador (with translation by Scott Corrales), “What we have done in the region is significant. We hope that more countries will sign on to this accord.”
Keep yer OVNI research south of the border, amigos, and we'll all get along just fine .../CREDIT: immaculateinfatuation.com
Sanchez is the director of CRIDOVNI, Uruguay’s official, 33-year-old government investigation into what we know in the States as The Great Taboo. What Sanchez and his Chilean counterpart, retired general Ricardo Bermudez, have done is pretty fearless. Bermudez, director of Chile’s 15-year-old government research group, CEFAA, and Sanchez have essentially told the world (read: Uncle Sam) the stigma is over.
“When in the Ufology history have we seen … two official UFO research organizations, from different countries and that take the alien presence on Earth very seriously, joining forces in an international cooperation effort,” wrote A.J. Gevaerd, editor of Brazilian UFO Magazine.
The “alien presence” allusion may be premature, but this could be quite a show. Especially in light of the controversy stirred up by CEFAA in February, when it released videos at an Arizona conference that appeared to show a UFO stunting at will in the midst of a Chilean air show. CEFAA claims it has multiple camera angles on that event, but Skeptics had a field day. They pounced all over the imagery, arguing Chile’s interdisciplinary team of analysts couldn’t tell the difference between a legitimate mystery and flying insects. CEFAA is reportedly analyzing the rest of the footage, but it has yet to release anything else, and the integrity of its science could find itself on trial here.
Either way, here’s the scenario: Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina and Peru are already engaged in various forms of UFO glasnost. Might an invitation from Chile and Uruguay encouraging them and other governments to join their efforts create yet another form of regionalism that asserts itself through aggressive and rigorous science? Should the union succeed and build a quantifiable database, would official U.S. institutions feel obliged to respond?
It may be a little early to jump that far ahead, but after reading former MUFON International Director James Carrion’s recent report from Brazil, when it comes to UFO research, America is looking like the one with the Third World future. If you want the latest news from the science of UFOs, you might want to brush up on your Spanish. Or learn Portuguese.
