12-26-1980 (Date from previous text in the book)

12-26-1980

Date from previous text in the book-CF-

In Sky Crash I had reported on a case, which came my way from a witness who had been in Portugal on that night. I had followed it up without connecting it to the Bentwaters affair for some years. Then its problems suddenly became relevant.

The witness, Michael, contacted me on 16 January 1981 after his return to England. He wished to describe what he had encountered. It was (he estimated) 21.15 on a very clear night with many stars. Michael was with a local friend (Pedro) on the sea front looking westward toward the Atlantic Ocean at a place called Paco de Arcos near Santo Amaro. They spotted the object traversing towards the southwest in a long slow arc. Michael commented that although visually it resembled both things, it was "moving too slow to be (either) a comet or meteor." It was pinkish red in colour and oval in shape with a long trail behind it. After half a minute of this passage (during which both witnesses claim the sea was made turbulent) the object changed direction and headed straight towards the young men (that is south easterly). Passing right above their heads it finally moved off in total silence above the mountains that are inland. Total duration was at least two minutes, possibly longer. When directly overhead a sensation of heat was felt. Remember this was on the Atlantic coast in late December. The night itself was on the cool side, so both men were adamant about this heat being given off by the object. That same night they both suffered sleeping problems and headaches. Within 24 hours they had developed red itchy rashes on their (exposed) Shoulders. Michael's lasted four days, but his friend's cleared in 48 hours (possibly being a resident of Portugal he was more used to the sun). They are insistent it was not sunburn and the mild sensation of the rash was exactly where the feeling of heat had been during the passage of the UFO.

I was very reluctant to connect this sighting with the satellite debris that re-entered at almost exactly the same time. Visually the description matched. Logically it could be nothing else. Yet the strange effects reported by the witnesses (suggesting response to some mild radiative field) would have to be pure coincidence and unrelated. Also the satellite debris was far too high in the atmosphere to chum the sea.

UFOCAT PRN – 118589 [DOS: 12-26-1980]

Note: UFOCAT PRN & URN 174935 are possibly the same case although the date is 12-25-1980, the time of 21.20 and the coordinates are the same. –CF-

Europe – Portugal. Body of water is the Atlantic Ocean

Paco De Arcos Latitude 38-41 N, Longitude 9-17 W (D-M)

Santo Amaro Latitude 38-42 N, Longitude 9-11 W

Reference: Portugal and the Cape Verde Islands gazetteer, Prepared in the Office of Geography, Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., April 1961

UFO location (UFOCAT) Latitude 38.70 N, Longitude 9.28 W (D.%)