By Scott Corrales
Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology
UFO Digest Latin America Correspondent
Source: www.analuisacid.com.mx
Date: 08 November 2011
Mexico: An Interview with Captain Raul Romero
By Ana Luisa Cid
Good afternoon, Captain Romero, thanks for your kindness. To kick things off, how many years of aviation experience do you have?
51 years as a pilot. I worked for some very important companies such as Aeroméxico, the ICA Group, Banco Nacional de México and Gen. Miguel Enriquez Guzmán, among others.
In your extensive career, have you encountered unidentified flying objects?
Yes, on two occasions. The first was in June 1970, flying from Guadalajara to Hermosillo at 11:00 p.m. at 20,000 feet aboard a Beechcraft turboprop belonging to a construction firm. The sighting took place 40 miles south of Hermosillo. A rather sizeable and bright light appeared out of nowhere, and I asked my co-pilot: “Hey, what’s this? Is it a train or what?” Because it looked just like a locomotive’s headlight, the only difference being that trains can’t fly at 20,000 feet, right?
Did you report it to the control tower?
At that time the Mazatlan Center was in control. I didn’t want to interrupt communications or break into the frequency to request information, but before they changed my frequency, I did it myself and changed to the Hermosillo Tower’s frequency to ask them if they had any traffic in their sights. They said no. The only traffic was a Mexicana de Aviación Comet, to which I replied: “Roger, understood”. Then I reported 40 miles south of Hermosillo and they told me: “take leave of Mazatlán Center and stay on this frequency.” I didn’t want to say what I was seeing, because they might have thought we didn’t have our heads on straight and could have even ordered a medical checkup.
They didn’t see it?
They asked me themselves: Are you seeing a light to the northeast of your position? To which I replied “affirmative” and kept flying. That was exactly what I was seeing. Next they said: “Please report any movement it makes, because it’s also in our sights here at the Control Tower.” I took advantage of this to tell them: “By the way, this was really the reason I switched frequencies before the prescribed area.”
You mean to say there was confirmation by the air traffic controllers?
Yes, they also had visual contact with that light and confirmed it when I was handed over to the control tower.
Captain, is there any sort of censorship when it comes to discussing this subject?
Not exactly. It’s more of a self-censorship, given the nature of our work.
What was your second UFO experience like?
The second visual encounter was flying over the Valley of Morelos, just last year. On that occasion, I took off from Toluca toward my base, which is Atizapán de Zaragoza in my own plane, a Cessna 182. I flew along the lowest part to find an entrance to Mexico Valley, heading toward Chalco, when around Mt. Tepozteco I came across a spherical flying object some 6 of 7 meters in diameter. At first I thought it was a promotional balloon that had gotten away from some company. Out of curiosity and since I was in no hurry to reach my destination, I tried to reach it but was unable to do so. It turns out that this object was flying at the same speed as my plane, as it always remained at the same distance from the aircraft and did not allow me to reach it. I then began to suspect that it wasn’t a balloon.
At what altitude and speed were you flying your plane?
11,500 feet and flying at 200 kilometers per hour.
Had it been a balloon, would you have reached it?
Certainly. I could’ve reached a balloon because at that altitude I wasn’t going to face any currents. What’s interesting is that the object always flew at the same speed as the airplane, at an approximate distance of 3 miles. Most surprising was that it suddenly increased its speed as it ascended, and vanished amid the tops of some cumulus and stratocumulus clouds. It went away and I didn’t see it again.
Have you had other kinds of sightings?
Yes, there have been cases in which the control tower reports traffic that I have been unable to see physically. That happened on a flight from Obregón to Mexico, when they asked me if I had any traffic to the right of my position, to which I replied: “negative”. It turns out that they could see it on their radar screens, and were questioning me, even when I couldn’t see it.
To what do you attribute such phenomena?
It’s hard to explain, but I do think that there could be a technology more advanced than our own. We do not really know if life exists elsewhere, but why not consider the possibility of beings more intelligent than us? Or at least with greater technical development, able to go wherever they want. Why not? I think we shouldn’t be so selfish as to think that we are the only ones in this infinite universe. It should be noted that I was a skeptic and didn’t believe in the whole UFO thing until I experienced it. So I don’t seek to convince anyone. I only recommend that they analyze the situation thoroughly and take it into consideration, hoping that my experiences may be of some use.”
Thank you very much.
(Translation (c) 2011, S. Corrales, IHU. Special thanks to Guillermo Gimenez, Planeta UFO, and Ana Luisa Cid)
Please visit Scott’s website: http://inexplicata.blogspot.com/
(Translation (c) 2011, S. Corrales, Institute of Hispanic Ufology)