1971 Lake Cote / Lago de Cote UFO Aerial Photo

[Mendel]

Just for the record, an interesting interview with Don Sérgio Loaiza from "Revista Dominical" 14 Nov. 2021 (a magazine from newspaper La Nación that shows up on Sundays).

Unfortunately pictures weren't captured, but can be seen on the next link (which is not archived though).

Revista Dominical 11-14-2021

Revista Dominical - print

Source: https://twitter.com/UAP_CR/status/1459904676183384068?s=20&t=nbZfcNizWlvJBvTcglgmRA

 

[kasparovitch]

The interview from Revista Dominicana answers some of my questions 2) and 3).

Luego de concluido el mapa, Loiza relata que entregaron al ICE el proyecto y ellos siguieron con su trabajo. Sin embargo, unos dos o tres años después, la institución volvió a buscar la ayuda del Instituto Geográfico Nacional, pues algunos datos estaban errados y requerían hacer un nuevo estudio.​

​

“Por esas casualidades de la vida me correspondió a mí el trabajo de campo inicial que era la foto interpretación para marcar los puntos. Cuando estábamos estudiando las fotos en gabinete, en unas mesas grandes que usábamos para ver cuáles eran las que íbamos a necesitar, un compañero me dice muy al estilo nuestro: ‘Mirá, ¿qué es esta carajada? Parece un platillo volador’.​

​

“Entonces fuimos al laboratorio e hicimos una ampliación y se la llevamos al director del Instituto Geográfico. De inmediato él llamó al ingeniero y jefe del Instituto Geodésico, que era la institución hermana paralela al proyecto, y nos dijo ahí mismo, en la oficina, que no podíamos hablar con nadie de la foto.​

As soon as the map was finished, Loiza says that they gave ICE the project and continued their work. However, after about two or three years , the institution sought for help from the National Geographic Institute, since some data were wrong and they required a new study. ​

​

“As a coincidence of life, the initial field work that was the photo interpretation to mark the points was awarded to me. When we were studying the photos in the cabinet, on some large tables that we used to see which ones we were going to need, a partner tells me quite in our style: ‘Look, what the hell is this? It looks like a flying saucer ’. ​

​

“Then we went to the laboratory and zoomed it in and took it to the director of the Geographic Institute. He immediately called the engineer and head of the Geodesic Institute, who was the sister institution parallel to the project, and told us right there, in the office, that we could not talk to anyone in the photo.​

 

[kasparovitch]

Loaiza also claims he doesn't know how brothers Ricardo and Carlos Vílchez could find the picture and leak it. So he's unlikely to be aware of anything exchanged between Vílchez and authors for the articles of 1989 and 1990 in Journal of Scientific Exploration.

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

This makes me uneasy:

Sergio Loiza claims that he has had experiences with UFOs since he was five years old.

Many were surprised to see the ship in the photograph, others were scared but Don Sergio's reaction was different: he felt grateful for having had the opportunity to capture the moment, as he assures that since he was five years old he had had several experiences with UFOs and with beings from outer space.

Seeing multiple UFO's over the years is one thing. But having experiences with beings from outer space makes me suspect that he's a Contactee. That's a whole different level of woo. It seems that was born c. 1944, which means he would have been a teenager during the Golden Age of Contactees - late 40's to mid-60's. (The Silver Age was late 70's to mid 90's.)

This makes me suspect that he has a strong bias to keep this a mystery, and will resist honest enquiry. I don't think one more interview will advance our knowledge on this matter.

The only thing that may shed some light is to have him describe his experiences with beings from outer space. That should make it clear whether or not he's a Contactee.

Too bad the interview has already happened (?)

 

[Mendel]

The interview from Revista Dominicana answers some of my questions 2) and 3).

: ‘Look, what the hell is this? It looks like a flying saucer ’.

“Then we went to the laboratory and zoomed it in and took it to the director of the Geographic Institute. He immediately called the engineer and head of the Geodesic Institute, who was the sister institution parallel to the project, and told us right there, in the office, that we could not talk to anyone in the photo.

Content from External Source

The director was probably concerned about the reputation of the institute.

(cue long diatribe about how talking/printing/broadcasting nonsense is socially acceptable now)

 

[kasparovitch]

I agree with Wolf and Mendel.

IMHO:

Only 5 people knew about the anomalous picture. The pilots and the heads of Geographic and Geodesic Institutes. It's understandable both heads wouldn't like to have their institutes connected with UFO phenomenons, risking public opinion charging them with fabrication or interest in ufology.

As a likely Contactee since an early age, Loaiza is the most probable person who informed Vílchez brothers about the picture. But he would thus have disobeyed orders from two Government officials, something he doesn't want to admit even 50 years later.

At this point, a forgery can't be ruled out until the original negatives can be thoroughly analyzed by independent sources. Access to original negatives, or to interpositive negatives or something the like, by Vílchez brothers, Sturrock and Vallee (and Carranza's uncle) until late 80's was probably somehow clandestine.

If it bothers mentioning this, Loaiza claims in 2021 to know nothing about Vílchez access to negatives. However the article by Vallee and Haines from 1989 says that "In 1980 Mr. Vilchez met in person with Sergio L. V. [Sérgio Loaiza Vargas]" and that "They to discussed the circumstances surrounding the flight and the photograph [...]". Something quite contradictory indeed.

So, Loaiza won't really help anything uncovering about the anomaly except in whatever may be biased towards crediting it.

 

[NorCal Dave]

The director was probably concerned about the reputation of the institute.

Not disagreeing, but this would suggest they didn't know what it was, such as an obvious pressure mark on the negative and therefore couldn't easily "debunk" that it's a flying saucer. If they did, it seems someone would have mentioned it by now.

It could also be that what was said and what Loaiza remembers, or wants to remember, is slightly different. The conversation could have been something like: "Allright guys, there's some kind of glitch in the photo that looks like a saucer. We've already had issues with this project, so don't go out there saying we photographed a UFO. Let's keep it professional". Loaiza can say he was told not to talk about it, but the context would be different.

It's also very possible that Loaiza is completely making this up, to as you say keep the mystery going. The idea insinuates that a low-to-mid-level bureaucrat at the Geographic Institute of a smallish Central American country is "in" on the "UFO cover up".

(cue long diatribe about how talking/printing/broadcasting nonsense is socially acceptable now)

Acceptable? It's desirable and expected! It's how one raises their media profile.

 

[Mendel]

Let's keep it professional"

this is exactly what concern for one's reputation sounds like