Mexico Sightings

Mexico a magnet for UFOs, experts say
5 December 1997

ACAPULCO, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexico has long faced resentment in the United States for exporting illegal aliens, but since 1991 the country has faced its own alien invasion -- by extraterrestrials, that is. That is the claim of UFO experts who are gathering in this Pacific resort city for the Second World UFO Congress, which started Friday and runs through Sunday.

The first congress was held here 20 years ago and featured a lecture by the late astrophysicist Carl Sagan. No one at this convention can match his scientific credentials, but some UFO proponents here, such as nuclear physicist and author Stanton Friedman, take a scientific approach. Organizers said the convention returned to Mexico in large part because over the past six years the ancient land of the Aztecs and Mayans has become a frequent stopping place for extraterrestrials.

It all stems from the eclipse of the sun on July 11, 1991, according to Jaime Maussan, Mexico's leading "ufologist" who conducts a television program on the phenomenon. That was the most highly watched eclipse of the century, and of all the countries in the world, Mexico had about the best vantage point. Reports of UFO sightings during the eclipse poured in from around the country. "We can only speculate" as to the reason why they chose Mexico, Maussan told Reuters. "It could be because of the Mexican people themselves, for their characteristics, for their acceptance, their lack of fear. "The only thing for sure is that something strange is happening in the skies of Mexico," he said.

It is not just Mexicans who attest to the trend. Another true believer is Wendelle Stevens, 74, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel sometimes called the "grandfather of world ufology." "This is the biggest wave in the world developing here now, starting in 1991 and continuing until this year," Stevens told Reuters. "It's the biggest wave of all time." There is a steady flow of UFO sightings in Mexico, where radio and television shows regularly feature witnesses who produce videos and photographs of flying saucers and other vessels. "There was a triangular object seen flying over Mexico City just two weeks ago," Maussan said. "Another one was seen flying over the skyscrapers about three months ago."