Corporal Valdés, Pampa Lluscuma
- Date
- 25 Apr 1977
- Place
- Pampa Lluscuma near Putre, Arica, Chile
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Contested
- Evidence strength
What was reported
In the early morning a Chilean Army patrol of seven or eight men near the Bolivian border saw lights approach; Corporal Armando Valdés walked towards them and was missing for about 15 minutes. His companions said he returned in a daze with several days' beard growth and a watch whose calendar showed 30 April, fainted, and spoke a strange sentence about returning. The story ran in the international press within weeks; the Army did not publish an inquiry and the case became the subject of claims of suppression. All the evidence is the patrol members' testimony.
What officials concluded
No conclusion stated
No official explanation has been given.
Strongest ordinary reading
none established
Evidence profile
Sensors1 of 9
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- No: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
Witnesses7 counted
- No: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- Yes: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
ShapeLight only
- Yes: Light only
- No: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
Effects1 reported
- Yes: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
- Le Provençal, 18 May 1977 (Patrick Gross archive)ufology.patrickgross.org
- Diario Uno: el polémico caso de Chilediariouno.com.ar
On the map
18.20° S, 69.60° W, plotted at the centre of the region named in the record
Show on the map