The strange UFO incident of Armando Valdes

I was watching one of those "docudrama" UFO shows recently.

You know the ones? Ominous narrator? Spooky music? Makes the smallest detail sound like something insidious ("They found only mayonnaise in the refrigerator...")? Yeah. One of those. Anyway, watching it led to something positive: I learned of a quirky case I've never previously heard of. That takes a bit of doing.

Please understand that I don't mean that in any kind of conceited way. Really. It's just that I've been reading about this kind of thing since I was like seven. I sometimes settle into the dangerous sense that I've pretty much heard of it all. Not so.

Geez, I'm taking a long time get around to it, aren't I? Patience. Allow the post to matriculate.

I'm talking about the case of Armando Valdes. He was a Corporal in the Chilean Army who led a team of six men on maneuvers in April of 1977. On a night during these vagarious exercises, he and his men had made camp and a campfire. At 4:15am, they noticed two glowing objects descending from the sky...or so the account states. Cpl Valdes ordered his men to ready their weapons while he approached one of the objects to investigate. It was then that his fellow soldiers claimed he simply disappeared.

A full 15 minutes later, he just reappeared. As his men approached him, Valdes reportedly said, "You do not know who we are, nor where we come from. But I tell you that we will soon return." After shaking to, Valdes said he remembered nothing of the previous 15 minutes. Nothing. The men on the other hand, found that he had about a week's worth of beard growth on his jaw and the date on his watch had advanced five days.

That's where the story ends. No evidence beyond the purported beard growth and the change of date on Valdes' watch. Since the army unit was operating inside the vast desert of Chile, an obvious initial offering of explanation for the UFOs was a mirage. Of course that doesn't explain the alleged physical and mental affects on Valdes. Additionally, there were a considerable number of UFO sightings across Chile at that time.

Then again, that might have been sign of a weakness in the case. It seems that UFOs had indeed been in the news much at that time. Did that influence...or even help create...this story? I have been trying to find out more about this skeptical side of things but one of the only links I've found is to a dead site. I have also been unsuccessful in locating any current information on Valdes. Is he still alive? What has he said in later years about his claims? If anyone has links, please leave them in comments.

While I'm not reserving much hope, this would be a fascinating case if it proves to have any validity. It would of course mean that the unknown entities responsible for the abduction can manipulate not only space but time. Valdes would have gone, evidently, five days into the future and then returned. Plus, what of his cryptic and eerie statement upon his return?

Things like that keep me up at night.

That is if this case were about a real event and it probably isn't. 

Right?

Not to belabor the whole X-Files cliche, but "I want to believe"...even if there isn't really any evidence. The beings are returning? Great. Come on by any time you want.

It would make a warm and welcome distraction from my real world concerns.


Follow me on Twitter: @Jntweets