I thought I'd try here to see if anyone has any good idea for what I saw way back in April 1992 while visiting Costa Rica. Somewhere in a shoebox I have an old newspaper clipping with some details of what others saw that day, at least confirming I wasn't alone in seeing 'something'. Unfortunately, if you try Googling for information, there are a number of references to an April Fools article that the Tico Times (English language newspaper) ran parodying other newspaper reporting. (The sightings took place on April 2, and they couldn't help themselves). Also unfortunately, many others didn't get the joke and cite the Tico Times article, making digging through online archives frustrating. I'll post that article at the bottom (Yes, it's bunk).
But, despite the joke, the Tico Times was drawing on elements of what was being reported at the time, including events at and around Arenal Volcano. I was actually sitting on a boulder on the side of Arenal with two other tourists, Joanna and Matz, at 3:30 in the morning of April 2, 1992. We had hired a guy in a Jeep to drive us up there in the middle of the night because the volcano was occluded by clouds during day and locals told us if we wanted to see the lava flow, we'd need to go up at night when the skies were clear. This was a pretty dumb idea, all in all. The Jeep dropped us off and left, and we were stuck up there until dawn, on an active volcano making sounds like Thor's hammer. This was when we first noticed the strobe. We couldn't see the source, but it was seemingly 'just around the corner' and out of sight. I remember Matz said something first, along the line of 'Uh, is everyone else seeing that light flash?'. The best I can describe, it was as if a group of people just out of sight were taking pictures with a strobe attachment (over and over and over), roughly 3 flashes, then pause, then 3 flashes, then pause. This went on, completely consistently until dawn gathered and washed out the light source. And, as if we hadn't figured out yet that we were pretty foolish, after we had hiked a fair bit back down to the main road, the volcano gave a loud rumble and vented a cloud of steam and ash. I have the picture.
Now, here's where it gets odd, and what I'm hoping you all can help me understand. As it happens, some 16 hours after sitting on Arenal, I was back in San Jose, around 8:30PM walking from the Escalante neighborhood to a bar to meet a couple girls. As I was walking through the residential neighborhood, I fully expected to turn a corner and see the scene of an accident or house fire or something. The roofs of the houses were lighting up as if being illuminated by the strobes of an emergency vehicle. I'd turn a corner, see no vehicles, yet continue to see the roofs being lit up with some kind of strobing light. After walking for 10 minutes or so, I turned a corner onto a main wide avenue with a clear view into the city. And, there wasn't an accident scene, instead, there was a strobing light source, positioned behind a thin layer of clouds, roughly 5 or 10 degrees relative to my position above the hills in the background. When this thing flashed, it was throwing shadows despite the relatively bright street lamps and ambient light.
I had not yet made the connection that I'd probably seen this 16 hours before on Arenal, but at that moment, I'm thinking I'm seeing a UFO. And, I'm also thinking about the two cute girls waiting for me at the bar, and at 19-years-old, I had my priorities straight. And, in any case, what can I do about it? I sure as heck am not going to make a fool of myself and drag the girls out to see what I think is a UFO. After a few hours at the bar, I'm waking back to where I'm staying. The strobing light is still there, hasn't moved as far as I can tell, and is still throwing shadows. I think briefly about waking up my host family just past midnight to come take a look, but think better of it. My bedroom window faced an interior courtyard, and I fall asleep watching the courtyard lighting up with every strobe.
I'm not sure exactly when I put it together that I had probably seen the strobe from two locations, 16 hours apart, but certainly by breakfast the next morning with my host family, I had a tale to tell. We also had guests over that morning, and so I had a whole (very skeptical) audience with whom to regale my adventure. I told them about the strobe on the volcano, and seeing it again just walking down the street in the neighborhood the night before. At the time I'm telling my story, I had not seen any newspaper accounts of any sightings, and my 'audience' that morning hadn't either. They were happy to listen to my wild tale, and humored me, but I clearly wasn't convincing anybody I had seen a UFO.
That is, until the newspapers started running story. Unlike the over-the-top Tico Times parody, the newspapers confirmed a nation-wide power outage just past midnight, with the source of the disturbance being high-voltage transmission lines near Arenal. Further, weather experts were quoted as saying that due to unusual atmospheric activity, many people had witnessed 'halos' around celestial objects. So, something had happened, and people saw strange things in the sky.
But what could I have really seen that day? I'm older, wiser, not a true believer, and I have not a clue.
Here's the Tico Times article (Yes THIS ARTICLE IS PARODY!) but it is a parody of a sighting that I myself, and others, had.
But, despite the joke, the Tico Times was drawing on elements of what was being reported at the time, including events at and around Arenal Volcano. I was actually sitting on a boulder on the side of Arenal with two other tourists, Joanna and Matz, at 3:30 in the morning of April 2, 1992. We had hired a guy in a Jeep to drive us up there in the middle of the night because the volcano was occluded by clouds during day and locals told us if we wanted to see the lava flow, we'd need to go up at night when the skies were clear. This was a pretty dumb idea, all in all. The Jeep dropped us off and left, and we were stuck up there until dawn, on an active volcano making sounds like Thor's hammer. This was when we first noticed the strobe. We couldn't see the source, but it was seemingly 'just around the corner' and out of sight. I remember Matz said something first, along the line of 'Uh, is everyone else seeing that light flash?'. The best I can describe, it was as if a group of people just out of sight were taking pictures with a strobe attachment (over and over and over), roughly 3 flashes, then pause, then 3 flashes, then pause. This went on, completely consistently until dawn gathered and washed out the light source. And, as if we hadn't figured out yet that we were pretty foolish, after we had hiked a fair bit back down to the main road, the volcano gave a loud rumble and vented a cloud of steam and ash. I have the picture.
Now, here's where it gets odd, and what I'm hoping you all can help me understand. As it happens, some 16 hours after sitting on Arenal, I was back in San Jose, around 8:30PM walking from the Escalante neighborhood to a bar to meet a couple girls. As I was walking through the residential neighborhood, I fully expected to turn a corner and see the scene of an accident or house fire or something. The roofs of the houses were lighting up as if being illuminated by the strobes of an emergency vehicle. I'd turn a corner, see no vehicles, yet continue to see the roofs being lit up with some kind of strobing light. After walking for 10 minutes or so, I turned a corner onto a main wide avenue with a clear view into the city. And, there wasn't an accident scene, instead, there was a strobing light source, positioned behind a thin layer of clouds, roughly 5 or 10 degrees relative to my position above the hills in the background. When this thing flashed, it was throwing shadows despite the relatively bright street lamps and ambient light.
I had not yet made the connection that I'd probably seen this 16 hours before on Arenal, but at that moment, I'm thinking I'm seeing a UFO. And, I'm also thinking about the two cute girls waiting for me at the bar, and at 19-years-old, I had my priorities straight. And, in any case, what can I do about it? I sure as heck am not going to make a fool of myself and drag the girls out to see what I think is a UFO. After a few hours at the bar, I'm waking back to where I'm staying. The strobing light is still there, hasn't moved as far as I can tell, and is still throwing shadows. I think briefly about waking up my host family just past midnight to come take a look, but think better of it. My bedroom window faced an interior courtyard, and I fall asleep watching the courtyard lighting up with every strobe.
I'm not sure exactly when I put it together that I had probably seen the strobe from two locations, 16 hours apart, but certainly by breakfast the next morning with my host family, I had a tale to tell. We also had guests over that morning, and so I had a whole (very skeptical) audience with whom to regale my adventure. I told them about the strobe on the volcano, and seeing it again just walking down the street in the neighborhood the night before. At the time I'm telling my story, I had not seen any newspaper accounts of any sightings, and my 'audience' that morning hadn't either. They were happy to listen to my wild tale, and humored me, but I clearly wasn't convincing anybody I had seen a UFO.
That is, until the newspapers started running story. Unlike the over-the-top Tico Times parody, the newspapers confirmed a nation-wide power outage just past midnight, with the source of the disturbance being high-voltage transmission lines near Arenal. Further, weather experts were quoted as saying that due to unusual atmospheric activity, many people had witnessed 'halos' around celestial objects. So, something had happened, and people saw strange things in the sky.
But what could I have really seen that day? I'm older, wiser, not a true believer, and I have not a clue.
Here's the Tico Times article (Yes THIS ARTICLE IS PARODY!) but it is a parody of a sighting that I myself, and others, had.
.
. We made it, but as you say, "a pretty dumb idea".
.
