If you missed Part I in this series click here: http://www.ufodtgest.com/article/general-campos-0415
The chunks that fell in Estancia San José “were recovered and made available to Diario El Heraldo in Concordia. We held in our hands one of the fragments of the flying object that crossed the airspace of General Campos on the morning of 21 December 1979. It is a metal plate 14 cm wide, 12 cm in diameter at its narrowest, and two millimeters thick. The edges are melted, as though burned by a welder’s torch.”
The Testimony of Carlos Liebermann, Former Editor of El Heraldo
As contained in the library of El Heraldo newspaper, the late Carlos Liebermann, who was the newspaper’s editor at the time, agreed that “the metal was very hard, with burned edges, molten, and torn away by the explosion in some sections. The surface had slight traces of paint against atmospheric friction. There were also traces of rust. Our personal impression is that these are the remains of the heat shield of some satellite launching booster, although we always have the illusion that it could be a strange object. We could only recover this piece. The rest were discarded by farmhands.
Enrique O. Sdrech published an excellent article on the subject with photos by José Casal in Revista R2000 (3 January 1978), showing the parts before they were taken away by Air Force officers.
Liebermann contacted the Argentinean Air Force, and around the time, stirred the curiosity of Brigadier Gen. Rubens Omar Graffigna, who perhaps due to the importance of this General Campos case, may have promoted an area within the Comision Nacional de Investigaciones Espaciales (CNIE), an agency of the FAA.
The ufologist states that “the commission was entrusted to captains Carlos Augusto Lima and Elanio Rodriguez and operated until 1987. At the time, they decided to send an aeronautical engineer, Juan Jose Mañé, a member of the wind energy department, and 1st lieutenant Roberto Hugo Vazquez, chief of the electronics department of the CNIE, to collect the fragments from Liebermann. They made some brief statements, confirming that the metal did not come from an atmospheric balloon launched by the Air Force to conduct atmospheric studies, noting that it was a very hard alloy, resistant to high temperatures and to friction produced by contact with the atmosphere. Official sources suggested that these could be fragments of satellites in orbit around the planet, disintegrating upon completing their useful life.
Perez Simondini adds that the “officers did not allow themselves to be photographed, and after taking the fragment, nothing more was ever heard from them, much less about the reports with the results.” She explains, however, that they located engineer Mañé, who believes that “after 35 years, perhaps the truth will come to light. We will soon furnish details on this investigation. Having been part of the UFO division of the CNIE, an agency of the Argentine Air Force, we understand that a file on this event can become public knowledge.”
More Journalistic Reports
Siete Dias magazine contacted officers of the Argentine Air Force, who noted that the fragment, commonly known as the “manija de puerta” (doorhandle) was made of a very strong alloy resistant to atmospheric friction. They further added that the fragment did not form part of an airplane or weather balloon, although they did not explain what it was. A biochemist from the city of Concordia performed acid tests, confirming that these had no effect upon the metal.
Pérez Simondini opines that in cases such as this “the role played by the press is very important, since it not only reports, but also becomes a participant in discovering what it is all about. El Heraldo de Concordia was involved in this case, and it opened its doors to us to commence this investigation thanks to its current editor, Roberto Caminos, who has been following the work of Vision Ovni and the Museo del Ovni, aside from his own beliefs about the subject, but showing respect for the seriousness and professionalism with which we work.”
The researcher provided AIM a photo showing the moment in which Caminos gave them an original issue of El Heraldo’s publication, containing the facts. “Many other witnesses were located thanks to that article. We are pushing ahead with this investigation, searching for fragments that may still be in the hands of people who took part in collecting them.”
CEFORA’s director believes “this is a historical case, basically for the Province of Entre Rios, and was perhaps the push behind the creation of a UFO division within the Comision de Investigacioens Espaciales of the Argentinean Air Force. What we know for sure is that the matter was studied, investigated and analyzed by official authorities. Now we are looking for the file to request its declassification.”
Source: AIM Digital (http://www.aimdigital.com.ar)
[Translation (c) 2014, S. Corrales with thanks to Guillermo Gimenez, Planeta UFO, and Andrea Pérez Simondini, Vision Ovni]
Visit Scott’s website: THE JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF HISPANIC UFOLOGY (IHU)