Paraguay sightings near Asuncion
20 February 1948 · Asuncion, Paraguay
Summary
Two compilations of incident summaries record reports from the Asuncion area of Paraguay on 20 February 1948, all timed at 0700 hours. Both list the main report as Incident 119. It names the observer as Mrs Agustina Vargas de Paula, a resident of southern Asuncion, and records one oval object moving west to east.
The narrative says the object had a very thin tail of approximately 3 feet, a bulkier forward part, and green, yellow and orange colors with a highly colored wake. The summary adds that the local newspaper "La Tribuna" had interviewed several people claiming to have seen the saucers. Distance, altitude, speed and time in sight are marked N/S, not stated.
A second check-list, Incident 119a, covers Aregua, 10 miles east of Asuncion. The observer's name is withheld and he is listed as an employee of the Bank of Paraguay. The narrative in the Air Force compilation says he judged the object to be a meteor, that many others saw it, and that all agreed it was a meteor. It adds that inhabitants of Cicervo Cua later claimed to have seen a "star" fall in a hill east of Aregua.
Incident 119b comes from Villa Hayes, 10 miles NNE of Asuncion. A rancher and laborers reported one disc at about 1,000 feet, moving west to east at less than the speed of a plane. The object gave off an intense green color, with an aureola along its edges, green predominant. None of the three check-lists has sketches or photographs, and the pages give no conclusion for Incidents 119 or 119b.
What the files say
“Its form ended in a very thin tail of approximately 3 feet in length.”
Page 64 →“The interior portion of the object gave off green, yellow and orange colors and it had a highly colored wake.”
Page 64 →“Along its edges it gave off an aureola with the color green predominant.”
Page 67 →“Witness reports that the object traveled from west to east at a speed less than that of a plane and at an altitude of approx 1000 ft.”
Page 67 →“Its form was oval and it had various colors and all agreed that it was a meteor.”
Page 67 →
Explanations in the record
What the documents themselves say the event was, as recorded. Not our assessment.
- An employee of the Bank of Paraguay in Aregua judged the object to be a meteor, and the summary says all who saw it agreed it was a meteor. — Air Force analysis of US flying object reports, pages 101-172, page 67