Traditionalist Publishers Do NOT Want Truth or Facts

 

I was asked why I stopped trying to find a more traditional publisher to handle the prose books since they would have all the extra marketing skills etc to sell titles?  

It isn't so much that I stopped looking it is the fact that publishers are simply not interested and have moved away from reading and publishing and gone more for publishing by committee -with members and their own prejudices and biases. 

This is what I got from one publisher regarding The Red Papers last year:

"Dear Terry,

"Thank you very much for your message and for sharing the background to your extensive work in wildlife study and conservation, as well as the details of your two publications.

"We appreciate your dedication and the long-term fieldwork and research that support these titles. To help us better understand the scope and potential fit of your work with our editorial line, we would kindly ask you to complete the attached proposal form. This document will allow us to gather key information about the content, intended audience, and objectives of the books. It also outlines how to send further material should the proposal move forward.

"Once we have the completed form and any additional documentation you wish to share, our editorial board will carefully review the proposal. If we feel there may be a possible fit, we will be in touch to discuss next steps.

Thank you again for considering Lynx Nature Books. "

Now, considering that the company had as best a synopsis as I could give of the work which covers decxades of study, research and field work as well as gathering very rare images how else can you make  the work of interest to a publisher?

Controversial and against dogma -fully referenced from official publications and works that back up the statements and not "Well I heard" as seems more common these days. We now KNOW what the original British Isles wild cat looked like as well as the fact that we know when Scottish zoologists declared (in 1897) that the Highland wild cat had become extinct. It can now be proven  (not that it ever needed to be) that there were indeed three variations in Old British foxes.

Original: since 1900 dogma set it that meant that generrations have been misled by people who like to call themselves experts but who preach dogma. It has taken decades of archive research as well as investigation to not just prove what is stated in the books as facts but even more to get physical evidence in the form of taxidermy specimens to prove the case.

The Red Paper: Canids (2010) was called by the late Sir David Bellamy "explosive for British natural history" -and that version of the book was "sparse" com,pared to the 2022 version.

Perhaps publishers want to save themselves embarrassment from decades of inaccurate books they have published?

And, no, I never heard back from Lynx Nature Books.  I did hear from another publisher that my manuscript had gone through the first committee to be looked at, then that the second committee had approved "the book being listed" to be looked at. A year on and nothing. 

Three years ago I was informed by one publisher that with modern societal changes they needed to look at books and consider gendere diversity and ethnic diversity and what my book could contribuite to that. I was writing about researchy on wild canids and felids and just what the hell anything else had to do with that I have no idea.

Unfortunately, I am not included in the long list of virtue signalling tick boxes.

The Red Papers were accepted three times by a publishing editor only, a month or so later, the same editor telling me that "At the moment the book does not fit into our upcoming schedule".  I later learnt that one publisher was very unhappy with one of the editors as they had been publishing the modern, false British natural history for decades.

I have a big collection of books on or referring to foxes in the UK. Each and every one of the authors has just done what we would call today "copied and pasted" from others. An incorrect fact published in 1950 is copied (almost verbatim) throughout the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and ad infinitum.  Lying about factual history is never good.

Then we come to the "World mystery" books. Heavily researched and referenced with some -truthfully- very rare or thought lost photographs and images (we know they are lost images because author after auther states this...they just never went to the source material). The photographic image of the City of Brtistol that appeared in the sky over Alaska. Gone forever.. well, no. I found it. 

Many "mystery creatures" (cryptids) took years to dig down to the actual facts in the sources to sometimes surprisingly identify and only through archive research did I find a newspaper report of what might have been the first gorilla from Africa in the early 1800s.

The truth may well not be "sexy" or "hip" but for each animal identified or each mystery looked at and solved there are those that are not. You follow the facts and the reference sources to the truth -or the mystery.

Sadly, unless you scream "cover up" or push sensationalist  but provable false claims publishers are not interested. Back in the 1980s -yes, the 1980s- one publisher "loved" my manuscript but, in writing, asked whether I could not just add in claims of government cover ups, threats and so on to "spice it up"?  I responded that I could only write about provable facts and my own experiences and would not lie to spice things up. My book suddenly became very uninteresting!

I am an archivist, researcher and historian  so what do I do -just gather all the material in files andf let it gather dust until I am no more and it all gets burnt or thrown into a skip and lost forever?  No, I do what most stupid people like me do: self publish in the belief that people would sooner have fact that sensationalist lies. 

There are a lot of us stupid people around.

Percipients In Encounters

 To make sure that it is understood: I am open to hearing from people who have been involved in CE3Ks/AE encounters old or new.

For privacy you can email me at hoopert1957@gmail.com

The Vera Partington Encounter: Fact or Fiction?

 

UK  Winter 1976/1977?   Wealdstone-Harrow, Middlesex

Peter Paget  UFOs The Welsh Triangle, Panther, London, 1979: p.48

 

“In February, 1977, Vera Partington, of Harrow, Middlesex had reported to me an encounter with a very similar figure (to one seen at Ripperston Farm, Wales –THS) on the road between Wealdstone and Harrow, one winter’s evening at 10.30.  She was driving from Harrow Weald to her home at Harrow-on-the-Hill, along the darkened road, when her car’s headlights picked out a huge silversuited (sic) man.

“She vividly remembers: ‘He was walking down the centre of the footpath, going in our direction, wearing what looked like a silver, all-in-one wet suit or diver’s suit.  He was about 6 ft tall and on the top of his helmet was what appeared to be an aerial about 8 in high.  His walk seemed to be a sort of dogged plodding, with his arms swinging about a foot away from his body.  I turned round quickly to catch a glimpse of his front, but too late, we were round the bend of the road and out of sight.’

“The drawing that she supplied of her ‘spaceman’ showed that he had a helmet coming down to his shoulders, encasing his head, in exactly the same manner as the figures in Wales.”

Note by THS: It is assumed, as this is the focus of this book, that “Winter” refers to that of 1976/1977 as no specific month is given.

No images are contained in what is a hodge-podege potboiler somewhat in the style of Arthur Shuttlewoods Warminster books.

“Our direction” and “we” use seems to indicate that someone else was with the witness.  Therefore this would be an incident involving at least two people.

Attempts have been made to contact Peter Paget –all unsuccessful.

12  10  2018 a response

Name: Terry Hooper

Email: hooperco

 Hello, Mr Paget.

I am currently updating the UK CE3K and entity reports catalogue and wondered whether you might still have details passed on to you by Vera Partington? You wrote "Winter" and I wondered whether an exact month was given?

Also, she writes "We" and "our" so can you confirm Ms Partington was not alone in the car?

My final question is whether you still have a copy of the drawing she made of the entity she saw?

Apologies for all the questions. My thanks in advance.

 

Peter Paget <peterpaget2012@yahoo.co.uk

To       

Terry Hooper

Message body

Hi Terry,

Do you mean Mrs Bowles?  See may books for all the data you need. It is all there, nothing missed out. That is all I have. Original material was destroyed in one of the 'raids' .......     "Of no defence significance....!!!"   Ha  !

Retired now. The Trilogy of updated books are all done and published. Not writing any more. No more data and not collecting any more. Presentations on line and on Kerry's site and some on Mile's Bases 48 etc. Now getting to be 73. Done enough.

Kindest Regards,

Peter.

When I explained that I was NOT talking about Joyce Bowles but Vera Partington I simply got the previous response again.

In all the years of searching Vera Partington has not surfaced and Paget's book is the only source. I leave it up to the reader to judge for themselves.

The Aliens and the Dead Guinea Pig

 Christmas Day 1977  Kenley, next to Kenley Aerodrome Surrey

John Hanson   Haunted Skies vol. 6  pp 301-302

Earth-Link October 1978  Roy Fisher  Dan Goring

Derek Mansell Roy Fisher Contact(UK)

Allan Melmore's photo of RAF Kenley in the 1970's

Keith Lane was out feeding his rabbits and guinea pig when he became aware of a ‘man’ 6-7ft tall standing at the bottom of the garden.

“He was wearing a one-piece silvery suit –like an astronaut.  He had a white belt and the shoes were joined to the trousers.  The ‘man’ had a long forehead, with eyes showing red pupils, surrounded by blue –glowing, like cat’s eyes in the dark.  He had long sandy hair.  I was frightened and ran into the house, where I remained for the rest of the day”.

The next morning his guinea pig was found dead –the rabbits seemed fine.

At 18:30 hrs on Boxing Day, Keith was startled by the appearance of two ‘small people’ –one about 5ft the other around 4ft tall. They were identical in appearance to the person seen the day before.  Keith called out in alarm and the figures vanished instantly before his parents arrived. 

Hypnagogia? or Altered state? Anyone familiar with British Ufology will know of the Gaynor Sunderland case.

That would be my guess but then Ufologist Roy Fisher interviewed Keith then drove onto the aerodrome –used for HGV testing then- and found a 40 feet circular burn mark in the tar and grass that workmen there had not seen before.

Sounds impressive. But no photographs so no proof that the circular area existed or to show form and help researchers.

A UFO of the Mind or of Reality?

“We’ll take you to the saucer!”

The original title to the published report by Argentinean Ufologist Jorge Eduardo Catoja was “Entities Reported Inside A Shop In Argentina.” Gordon Creighton in his introduction to the article ("Entities Reported Inside a Shop in Argentina", Flying Saucer Review vol. 28, no. 4, March, 1983) wrote:

“We are indebted to the Editorial Committee of our French companion-journal Lumières Dans La Nuit, from No. 198 of which (October 1980) we have translated the curious item. Though many will find the report hard to swallow we think it worth recording, because it seems to smack very strongly - as so many "UFO stories" do - of the classical poltergeist phenomena familiar to us from the annals of psychical research.

It is admittedly difficult to recall any good "poltergeist case" in which the witnesses actually claimed to have Seen the causative agency. Consequently, most parapsychological investigators nowadays tend to veer away from the idea that any external intelligent factor (i.e. other than the human subject or subjects present in the case) can be involved with poltergeists, and they prefer to seek other less bizarre explanations. Note, however, that in the present case the two causative entities allegedly vanished temporarily from sight a feature that sounds extremely ‘poltergeistic’."

Sadly, “New Ufology” had made it quite acceptable to start citing anything in odd reports as being of a paranormal nature and Creighton was very well known for his belief that evil paranormal entities were behind “much of” the UFO phenomenon. I will come back to this further on.

In this instance, Jorge Eduardo Catoja visited the scene of the phenomena and interviewed the witnesses.

It was approximately 1640 hours on Sunday, 10th September, 1978, in the small town of Las Salinas, near San Miguel de Tucuman in northern Argentina. Miguel Angel Carbajal, aged 18, and his friend Miguel Ledesma, aged 23, were sitting in Carbajal’s home watching television, when the picture on the screen began to shrink and so they decided to switch it off. There was still the record player and putting on a record found that it was turning very slowly “as though at 16 r.p.m.” and they concluded that this along with the TV problem meant that there was a drop in the mains current supply. Then the duo tried to use a portable transistor radio to listen to a local game of football, but was also of no use due to interference.

The parents of Carbajal owned the shop adjoining the house but they were away visiting relatives; Carabjal and Ledesma were both employed in the shop. Miguel Carbajal has had three years of primary school education, and one year of secondary. The extent of his daily reading does not go beyond the local newspaper, La Gaceta, and he is not a UFO buff or an addict of Science-Fiction. As for his companion, Miguel Ledesma, the latter is quite illiterate. There was nobody else in the house apart from one disabled member of the family.

They were about to give up on getting the portable radio to work when they heard noises coming from the adjoining shop. Their first thought was that thieves had taken advantage of the owners being away and had broken in; the young men first got the disabled relative out of the house and once this was done they opened the connecting door which led directly into the shop. The first thing they saw was a smashed bottle of wine and some broken jars of mayonnaise strewn about on the floor. Moving further into the shop, they came upon a pair of scales thrown down onto the floor, with the glass smashed: they noted that the electronic till had been shifted some distance from its normal position. At this point they saw standing at a distance of about six metres from them, of two entities.

In the words of Miguel Carbajal told La Razon (12th September, 1978): "I was thoroughly scared... for I suddenly saw them. I was unable to speak... I thought they must be Martians, because I had read in La Gaceta that there had been UFO sightings in the district."

According to the young men the two entities were about one metre in height, and “dressed in bright blue one-piece suits like frogmen wear” and on their heads they had dark blue helmets. Their faces were brown and freckled and the eyes were straight and level. Their noses seemed to be flattish, although it was noted that neither man could give a very precise description – not surprising since they were obviously taken aback by the sight., The hands, arms, and legs all seemed 'normal' by human standards but the witnesses were unable to judge sex for sure. On their feet the entities had what seemed to be bright blue high-boots and shiny black elbow length gauntlets on their arms.

Above: illustration of what the entities looked like based on witness descriptions (c)2024 respective copyright owner

According to the young men one of the entities was holding a “weapon” of some sort which he was pointing at them in what they thought was a threatening manner. Carbajal stated that this “weapon” looked like a hair-drier. At this point both men heard the words: "Do, not shout, or we will take you to the saucer!" This seemed to come from the entities although they saw no lip movement from either of the two entities “so that the message was probably given telepathically.”

At this point one of the entities raised a hand and put the index finger to his nose, whereupon they both promptly vanished from sight. Carbajal dashed over to the till to get out the keys to the doors of the shop but as he did so the entities reappeared in precisely the same position as before.

Ledesma grabbed a knife and an iron bar and he and Carbajal, with the store keys in his hand, made for the door. Again the entities vanished, Ledesma told the reporters:

"I stepped over lightly to the store-room and there they were again, in there. And they threw a crate of cigarettes at me. It missed, passing in front of me. At once I made a dash for the exit, which Carbajal in the meantime had managed to open."

When asked by reporters whether they had heard any sort of sound when the entities were materializing and dematerializing Carbajal responded; "There was a sort of sound like TIN ...TIN ...TIN .." but only when they were vanishing."

Once out of the shop, they secured the door with padlock and chain and dashed off into Tucuman in the firm's van to find Manuel Carbajal Senior and tell him that thieves had broken into the shop. The trio then returned to the shop and went to the local police station, at El Timbo. Police Commissioner Miranda at once proceeded with them to the shop, but when they got there, the entities were not to be seen. It is not stated that Carbajal senior had seen the entities. The contents of the till were checked and it was found that no money seemed to be missing. The witnesses estimated that the episode had lasted about 5-10 minutes.

Jorge Eduardo Catoja having visited the site made a number of interesting discoveries when questioning people living in the neighbourhood. Two weeks previously, there had been sightings of two strange lights over a near-by salt mine which was the only local industry. Also, the occupants of a house near there had recently been the victims of a mysterious plague of stone-throwing. Other people whom the investigator questioned re-called that three years ago there had been UFO landings at a place known as Ramadeda de Abajo, lying to the east of Las Salinas.

Creighton jumps straight in here with the comment:

“And here we have the most characteristic and typical of all the features found in cases of poltergeistic infestations - namely "stones throwing!" -G.C.”

Sadly, FSR has sunk into the mire of silly reporting and theorising having dropped its attempted stance of “scientific reporting.” Let’s look at the facts here with a clear mind. Yes, the radio and TV problems are reported in UFO encounters and there are reports of entities seen inside buildings so there we have no real problem. When it comes to the manner of clothing of the entities, again, not dissimilar to other reports but when I read brownish skin with freckles and a “weapon” that looked like a hair dryer my first thought was that this was a novel way to cover up a robbery -dress as aliens and carry a converted hair drier to look like a weapon. Would the police believe “My store was vandalised and robbed by aliens”?

The odd aspects are that the men both heard that line: "Do, not shout, or we will take you to the saucer!" which, if it had been spoken I would have suggested were two thieves dressed up and using flying saucers as a cover since the subject had been in the newspapers. Both men were adamant that neither entities lips moved. Also, if the entities vanished and then re-appeared onm the same spot in plain sight of the witnesses...that is a pretty good trick for thieves!

The strange lights over the mine could well have been anything since there is no description or narrative as to what made them, “strange” in the first place. It could have even been a natural phenomenon so a connection to the shop encounter is very weak at best. Even if UFOs were in the news locally the same thing applies; unless thoroughly checked a light(s) reported are simply that and can be anything. Remember the only UFO connection in the shop encounter was the threat of taking both men to “the saucer” which still raises questions.

Of course, the money still being in the till and no goods seemingly missing tends to rule out the idea of thieves. But, as always, everything depends on whether the two men were telling the truth about what happened. The disabled young man was not spoken to as it seems permission was not given and we know nothing about his disability. The fact that no one mentions him after Carbajal senior and the police became involved seems to indicate that he had been moved.

The damaged items in the store are from evidence of any poltergeist activity being involved and, in fact, it is hard to say how Creighton came up with; “Note, however, that in the present case the two causative entities allegedly vanished temporarily from sight a feature that sounds extremely poltergeistic” since poltergeist activity takes place over a short or lengthy period and even sporadically but tends to have a focus of activity and although dark shapes or (alleged) “masses” have been seen none look anything like the two entities here and I have never heard of two entities appearing and re-appearing on the same spot in front of witnesses.

“And here we have the most characteristic and typical of all the features found in cases of poltergeistic infestations - namely "stones throwing!" is absolutely meaningless. The stone throwing was not at the shop and unless it was investigated at the actual house then stone throwing could be down to kids or an adult “having fun” -that is not unknown. Mind you, Creighton did once snap at me over the telephone “You are a fool if you believe these things are alien!” I hadn’t said that but I was unwilling to follow his seemingly unchallengeable theory that it was all Djinn -invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabia and later in Islamic culture and beliefs. The term is now a “pop” term used in most fake paranormal videos interchangeable with demon. The point is that there was no evidence of poltergeist activity in this case only, perhaps, clumsy aliens: the number of times I have dropped or knocked things over by accident doess not mean a poltergeist was present!

The investigator and, presumably, police took the young men seriously but we have here a perfect example of believe or do not believe which, without any physical evidence or corroboration by others I mark as interesting but Low Strangeness.

Other references

Cronica, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 29^th September, 1978.

MUFON UFO Journal, no. 130, September 1978. page 15

UFO Newsclipping Service, Lucius Farish, USA.

HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports", compiled by David Webb and Ted Bloecher, USA, circa 1979.

"Deux Humanoïdes à Las Salinas", by Jorge Eduardo Catoja, Lumières Dans La Nuit no.198, October 1980. pp 28-30, 

The Armando Valdes Abduction That Wasn't..We Think – Five-Day Ordeal, 25 April 1977

 When this account was first published in English it made it into the Flying Saucer Review it was somewhat sensationalised but there was never any follow-up which was what FSR, sadly, often did. So cases proven to be hoaxes were left as 'genuine' and are still quoted today because it is easier to quote FSR than do research.

As far as I can find out the Valdes book has not appeared yet, at least there are no mentions on English language sites. The sources I have referred to are: Journal News Online has a shorter version of the above 07 Mar 2022.  The Black Vault reproduces the UFO Casebook article; To save anyone looking the UFO Casebook now seems unavailable. Flying Saucer Review - Vol. 23, N. 5: February 1978. The APRO Bulletin, July 1977 and News Rebeat (online) 13th April 2023

On the 25th April, 1977, at 0400hrs, in Pampa Lluscuma (near Putre -50 air miles ENE of Arica, the larger city in Chile),  Six members of an army patrol saw two bright objects descending from the sky; Cpl. Armando Valdes, the patrol leader, set out alone to investigate and, according to the men, simply vanished. Fifteen minutes later, they said, he reappeared, tried to speak and passed out.

This was what became known as The Arica Encounter.

Corporal Valdes was in charge of a patrol on routine assignment near Putre and he and his six-man patrol were sitting around a campfire alongside a wall of stones and mud at the army post of Pampa Lluscuma. They had been talking and singing for quite a while to stay awake with two of the men keeping watch several feet away. At 0400 hrs one of the men, Private Rosales, ran back to Valdes to report that two bright violet lights had landed, one of which was in sight and illuminated the whole area. The light approached closer.

Valdes ordered his men to cover up their fire with blankets. The violet light with a red spot at each end withdrew and then returned closer and the patrol was described (by themselves) as being terrified.  The UFO was silent as it moved and any unusual noise would have been heard as the Chilean high plateau silent. Corporal Valdes stated “after praying to God and ordering the light to leave . . . after demanding that it identify itself, I moved a few meters away from my men.”

The corporal was watched as he moved toward the object and in front of his men he disappeared.  Fifteen minutes passed with the troopers growing more concerned but the Valdes reappeared.  He was shaking and his voice seemed different as he uttered: "“You don’t know who we are or where we come from but we will be back soon” after this he lost consciousness and for two hours the UFO remained in sight but vanished just as Valdes regained consciousness.

It was while taking care of Valdes that the troopers noticed he had a beard growth equivalent to several days without shaving and yet, before the UFO incident had been clean shaven. As Valdes awoke he told his men that “I don’t remember anything from the moment I left you.”and then ordered, “Get ready to leave because it’s 4:30 in the morning".  In fact it was actually 0700 hrs; his calendar watch had stopped at 0430hrs but the date was five days ahead and showed the 30th  instead of the 25th.

Many of the details were related some two hours after the incident to Pedro Araneda, a correspondent and lecturer. The presence of UFOs was not a surprise to Corporal Valdes as he and others in the interior of Chile near Arica, often saw luminous UFOs moving about the skies. Valdes stated that “The surprising thing was the way it approached us. As soldiers we are trained to deal with any situation. But this phenomenon didn’t seem to have any logical explanation. I would like to regain my memory of those fifteen minutes. I would even like to submit to hypnosis to draw out information about what happened.”

President and Commander in Chief Augusto Pinochet of Chile prohibited further interviews with the soldiers. Medical, psychiatric and eventually hypnotic tests were planned for the members of the patrol to confirm their stories.

In the meantime UFOs were still being reported Arica, Punta Arenas, Santiago, and other locations up and down the 2700 mile length of Chile. 

Above: Valdes at the time around his encounter (c)2024 respective copyright owner

According to the APRO Bulletin: "The time factor in this particular case – increased beard growth and accelerated clock time – are elements which make this case exceptional and worthy of further consideration."  Certainly FSR had a fun time with those aspects of the report.

It is stated that the Valdés Case is the most paradigmatic episode of Chilean ufology and has been dealt with in “La noche de los centinelas” (The Night of the Sentries), an 8-year -long journalistic investigation that looks into background events, locates the protagonists and “uncovers more than one surprise”.  It is stated that the soldiers looked for Valdes but could not locate him until they heard the sub-officer’s voice pleading for help, and they saw him walking toward them unsteadily. He had a dense growth of beard despite having been clean-shaven just minutes earlier, and the calendar on his digital watch was five days fast. This was confirmed by the troopers and the case became a journalistic sensation and achieved global notoriety. 

There is little surprise that within days, its protagonists slipped into obscurity as Chile was under an authoritarian military dictatorship  between the 11th September, 1973 and 11th March, 1990. The dictatorship was established after the democratically elected socialist government of Salvador Allende was overthrown in a coup d'état backed by the United States.  The press and media were not exactly as free as in other countries and the  military were not going to be happy about stories of UFOs kidnapping a corporal with impunity.

Above: (inset) Valdes and the troopers of the patrol (c)2024 respective copyright owner

Twenty-five years later, journalist and researcher Patricio Abuselme took up the challenge of reinvestigating the case and interviewed its main protagonists covered in his book La noche de los sentinelas, an in-depth journalistic investigation on the incident published in late 2010 by Terra Incognita (his own publishing house). No English language version has appeared. He wrote that:

“This is the case that made Chilean ufology known worldwide. However, no one bothered to conduct a serious, in-depth investigation of the case. I took up the challenge in 2002, and it took me eight years to compile the protagonists’ accounts and reassemble this “impossible story,”.

In just under 300 pages, Abusleme provides a comprehensive view of the case from the first journalistic dispatches reporting the incident to exclusive interviews with the main protagonists, including Corporal Valdés (Ret.) uncovering unpublished details. Abusleme writes:

“When I started this investigation, I did so in the secret hope of explaining the whole case in conventional terms. And I thought I was well on the way until the main protagonist of the story debunked the cases most controversial aspects – the growth of his beard and the wristwatch’s date change – by providing conventional explanations.

"The problem is that when I tried to corroborate it with the other witnesses, they provided a version that was mutually congruent, but at odds with the one offered by Valdés. For this reason, the book poses a controversy.

“If someone is looking for a story of mystics in direct contact with Martians, he or she won’t find it here. What they will find is information, information and more information. The outcome of a detailed journalistic investigation that enables the reconstruction of an intriguing real case that captured headlines over 30 years ago.”

In fact these cases are never simple and on the 26th September, 2003, Valdes gave an exclusive interview with Terra.cl. In this interview Valdes claimed that from the start he knew ha had not been abducted; he stated that his story had been misinterpreted, “although the matter of the beard and the wristwatch was true.” That last part is worth noting as it will be referred to again.

Valdes spoke about his current project: a book that should  by the end of 2003  in which he retells his version of the events. The following is from that interview.

Terra: Recently, you have been engaged in discreet research into your experience. Is this true?

Valdes: Yes, in fact I’ve been fully involved in developing my book and furthermore, looking into my experience, since I wish to be as factual as possible in my story.

Terra: As a result of this research, have you returned to the scene of the events?

Valdes: Yes, I went back in November 2002–25 years later… Pampa Lluscuma and the remains of the horse stables where the events occurred. There, in the company of researcher and journalist Patricio Abusleme, we recreated the events and made a series of measurements, gathering very significant background information.

Terra: How did you feel about going back?

Valds: As you can imagine, it was shocking. It was the first time I went back after two decades. It was a motivating experience which allowed me, first and foremost, to confirm or recall certain details which were lost with the passing of time.

Terra: While much was said about the “abduction” of Corporal Valdés, there was none. What’s your version?

Valdes: Truly, I wasn’t abducted. This is the reason for the sensitive nature of what I’m putting forth in the book. Some important background details are being released.

Terra: Did you think at any time that you had been abducted or did you always know this wasn’t the case?

Valdés in the exact spot of the 1977 incident in 2002, when he gave Patricio Abusleme his revisionist version of the case. Image credit: Patricio Abusleme

Valdes: Look, it’s really complicated to explain it all. That’s the reason behind my trip to Putre, my scientific studies and the book I’m writing, because it’s all very complicated.

Terra: But did you think at first that you’d been abducted?

Valdes: I would say that I knew immediately how things had happened. What I’m explaining in my book (are) the reasons for which certain items went off on another track.

Terra: In other words, your initial story was misconstrued?

Valdes: Indeed. I didn’t think at first that I’d been abducted, although the matter of the growth of beard is true, as well as the subject of my wristwatch. But for this reason I have taken to writing the book to explain the reasons behind all of these things.

Terra: Lately you have been silent in the media. Why is this?

Valdes: What’s happening is that I’m engrossed in finishing my book. I wanted to work in silence until the task was done.

Terra: When can we expect the book to be published?

Valdes: Regarding the book itself I say that it’s been a serious mistake to promise dates. Many special situations have occurred–some very strange things–but I’m making an effort to finish it by the end of the year. I’m giving it my all, since I’d like to finish it as soon as possible.

Terra: Any options to publish the book abroad?

Valdes: Yes, there have been offers from abroad, but I don’t want to entertain them until the book is finished. My greatest desire is for everyone to read it, since I have a message for all humankind in it. Therefore its publication in Chile or elsewhere is unimportant. We will decide where to publish it at some point.

Terra: I understand that you are a (born again) Christian and an evangelical. Is this true?

Valdes: Yes, I am, and a teacher of the evangelical faith.

Terra: How have your religious surroundings influenced your story? Or rather, how has your story been received?

News coverage of the Cap Valdés case

Valdes: My story and explanations have been accepted to a certain extent, and I have told them certain things and in a certain manner. There are many who hold points of view different from my own and I don’t have to deny that there are contradictions. But as I said, the story is mine and they have not influenced me at all regarding my book. In fact, there are those who may agree or not agree with my book tomorrow, and will not stop what I’m doing.

Terra: Would you say that the experience you underwent in Pampa Lluscuma was more of a spiritual than a ufological event?

Valdes: There are mixed items. The term UFO today is contaminated by another type of thing, and I prefer to speak in terms of FANI (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena). I think that in my experience there is a bit of everything–a good measure of paranormal phenomena, strange effects, lights, many things acting in unison and this is what I am showing in my book, although it’s been hard for me to convey on paper what I felt, what I experienced and what really happened.

Terra: Finally, are you in touch with those who also took part in the unusual event and who formed part of your patrol?

Valdes: Yes, over the phone more than anything. For some reason we haven’t been able to have a closer relationship, but we are in touch by phone and I must say that we currently have disagreements over the events that occurred. Some are telling another story.

 – Terra Networks Chile S.A

I know it is a little confusing, I must admit that the fact Valdes confirms the watch aspect as well as the sudden growth of beard in 15 minutes, but then denies certain things confuses the issue.  Here is what Valdes claims happens:

Firstly, Valdes continued to support the story of the ball of light (UFO) hovering near the soldiers but told a journalist that he never disappeared inside the UFO. He is now claiming that he left the soldiers to urinate and then stood behind a wall for the key fifteen to twenty minutes of his alleged disappearance.. He claims that he decided to play a trick on the soldiers by pretending to be missing. He explained the beard growth by saying he hadn’t shaved for several days and that his wristwatch didn’t work and that the date change was just a coincidence.

Valdés’ confession is not as simple as it may seem since the other soldiers continue to support the original version but Valdés became a devout evangelical Christian many years ago, a member of the Union of Biblical Centers of Temuco, of which he is now bishop. It is believed that this new found religious belief has made  him recant the original account and it may be why the other soldiers and he are not on friendlier terms though he does occasionally speak to them by phone.  

I have, over the decades, come across cases in which percipients/witnesses will not recant their original account of on board a UFO experience or just a sighting.  However, due to not being able to find easy answers as well as pressure from other people suddenly realise that what happened was either demonic, a religious experience or (becoming born again Christians) a delusion and it made them realise that they needed to find God. Therefore, Valdes becoming an Evangelical Christian wherein UFO encounters tend to be dismissed for various reason, is nothing new and the other soldiers just do not matter.

I find it odd that Valdes claims the beard was due to his not having shaven recently and yet none of the other soldiers realised he had a beard until after the alleged event?  As for hiding when a UFO appeared as a trick -again the logic escapes me. At the same time he has confirmed the beard growth and watch aspects as reported by the soldiers. Is it any wonder that the men are not that close to him?  

"It happened as described but just did not happen as described" shows a mind in some conflict and trying to balance facts and making a mess of things -again, something I have seen in these cases before. One person believed that they were a UFO abductee and gave a detailed account and spoke to me a few times. Then she became a born again Christian and felt it was all demonic and later went back to the abduction but adding and twisting aspects. The problem was that Ufologists she contacted (in the UK) simply dismissed her initial claim as "she has also seen a UFO on more than one occasion". In other words she was a "repeater" and Ufologists were having none of that back in the 1970s and some still will not.

As it stands the Valdes case is still considered genuine but rather than Ufologists muddying the water it is the main percipient. Was the encounter genuine?  For me the fact that Valdes suddenly decided to offer silly explanations and refuted what the other witnesses still insist happened, and yet we have no new information on what supposedly happened in the missing 15 minutes before any religious contamination is added means it gets a Low Strangeness rating.

Mike Rogers RIP

 

Mike Rogers, who was the leader of the logging crew that included Travis Walton, died on February 6, 2026. 

The Hypnotist Who Unlocked Betty & Barney Hill’s Alien Memories | Dr. Benjamin Simon Speaks

 

Earth The 'Lost' Contacts

 

Pages

414

Binding Type

Paperback Perfect Bound

Interior Color

Color

Dimensions

A4 (8.27 x 11.69 in / 210 x 297 mm)

£30.00

https://www.lulu.com/shop/terry-hooper/earth-the-lost-contacts/paperback/product-kvmn2mv.html?page=1&pageSize=4

There have been many claims of UFO landings and encounters with alien entities since 1947 and while some such as that of Betty and Barney Hill and Travis Walton may be well known they were not the first and certainly not the best incidents. Encounter claims are a world wide phenomenon and not confined to the United States. After 50 years of the CE3K/Alien Entity Study, For this fifth book looking at CE3K/AE reports Terry Hooper has chosen some of the best and least known reports as well as some that might be known but adding much detail; Aveley, Ewloe, Kingfield and others deserve to be better known as does the case of Elsie Oakensen, Bronte Lloyd, Chapters include:

The Buckfastleigh Mystery

The Jose C. Higgins Close Encounter 1947

The 1973 Onilson Patero UFO encounter/Abduction Case

Villa Santina 1947

Pontejos Santander Spain -6th January, 1969

The Näslund and Nilsson Encounters

Mrs. Church and the Green ‘Japanese’

Never Trust Child Witnesses?

Starry, Starry Night -The Silbury Hill Encounter

The 1977 Lindley, New York UFO Incidents

The Boy Who Encountered Creatures At Vilhelmina

Just The Daily Drive Home From Work

The “Is That It Then?” Reports

The Bronte Lloyd Lost Encounter

The Puchetta Encounter

Ronald Wildman: A Man “Muddled Up About Time”

The Kingfield Enigma

The Lorry Driver

What Was At The Window?

The Multi-Witness Abduction That Did Not Happen -But It Did

The Shamrock Cafe Abduction -The Best UK Case?

Lynda Jones: The Abduction Ufology Knew About -Sort Of

What Happened At Black Brook Farm?

The “Mince Pies” Martians

There Was Missing Time and more

If you want to read factual, researched accounts rather than fiction then this book will educate you on these contacts -many ignored by Ufology, mishandled or plain ignored.

Beyond UFO Contact

 

A4

B&W

350 pp

Fully illustrated containing photographs and maps

£20.00

https://www.lulu.com/en/en/shop/terry-hooper/beyond-ufo-contact-aliens-from-mind-time-space/paperback/product-qw8wjm.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Beyond UFO Contact i the fourth book in the groundbreaking series looking at reports of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Alien-Entity reports from around the world and reassessing these. In addition there is a look at the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligences (SETI) and its relevance to the UFO phenomenon. 

contents list: 

Introduction: The Path of Counter-Actuality 

1. Dionisio Llanca: Truck Driver, UFO Abductee and Human Guinea Pig 

2. Aliens -What Can We Expect? 

3. The Moreland Incident 

4. It Is All Fake: Ufology Needs To Be Reassessed 

5. Warminster UFOs and Entity Reports 

6. Have Things Changed Since 1977? 

7. The Beausoleil Cas -Even Aliens Like Theatre 

8. The Pwca 

9. Contact...with the Vegetable Alien 

10. The Casitas Dam UFO Photograph and Entity 

11. The Crystal Lake Encounter 

12. The Humanoids at South Riverand the Luczkowich Encounter 

13. Harrison Bailey 

14. Sonny DesVerger 

15. The UFO "Borderline"-The Imjarvi Skiers 

16. Some Interesting Reports to Note 

17. Dead Aliens in Photographs 

18. Ufology, Government Cover Ups and Disclosure 

19. The Reports That You Might Not Want To Look Into 

20. Conil de la Frontera -a Credible Report? 

21. Eighteenth Century Aliens? 

22. Clearview Ranch 

23. The Pat McGuire Case 

24. Piero Fortunato Franzetta 

25. The Silbury Hill Encounter 

26. The Bridge Abduction 

27. The Bagshot Heath UFO Incident 

28. Lurkers and Alien Disinterest 

29. What If YOU See Aliens Land? 

30. So What Would YOU Do If You Encountered A Landed UFO?