La Joya Su-22 engagement
- Date
- 11 Apr 1980
- Place
- La Joya air base (Mariano Melgar), Arequipa, Peru
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Unexplained
- Evidence strength
What was reported
Peruvian Air Force pilot Oscar Santa María Huertas says he was ordered up in a Su-22 to intercept a balloon-like silver object hovering near the base, fired about 64 rounds of 30 mm cannon without effect, and chased it for some 22 minutes up to about 19,000 metres, where he saw a dome on a wide metallic base; he puts the base's ground witnesses at about 1,800. A US Defense Department intelligence report in 1980 recorded the Peruvian report and left the object's origin unknown. Santa María repeated the account at the 2013 Citizen Hearing on Disclosure. No radar data, gun-camera film or Peruvian Air Force file is public, so the details rest on his testimony and the US summary.
What officials concluded
No conclusion stated
No official explanation has been given.
Strongest ordinary reading
none established
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- No: Civilian
- Yes: Military aircrew
- Yes: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- No: Light only
- Yes: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
- Diario Correo (Arequipa) on the La Joya casediariocorreo.pe
- Epoch Times: Peruvian jet pilot tells of tangle with UFOtheepochtimes.com
On the map
16.42° S, 71.82° W, plotted at the town or city
Show on the map