THE PRETZEL CE-3

Argentina: The Night Visitor (The Pretzel CE-3)
By Daniel J. López and Luis Burgos
http://www.ciencia-ovni.com.ar/elvisitantenocturnosolitario.htm

From the incomparable 1968 Argentinean – and worldwide – UFO wave, I remember that one of the most widely known and controversial cases involved an encounter between a young woman and a strange entity in the mountain ranges of Córdoba. Much has been said since then: that it was a hoax with the purpose of attracting tourists, that the protagonist herself concocted the story, to a media-driven creation. Even today, naysayers hiding behind curtains will have a field day with it. The fact of the matter is that I was unable to travel to the site to interview the witness. But in 1986, 18 years after the “contact” experience, I assigned researcher Daniel Jose Lopez of FAO, Bs.As., to re-investigate the case. And the trip yielded results, since the eyewitness interview presented fundamental evidence suggesting that “something indeed happened at the time”. A story that was consistent, detailed and beyond all whimsical contexts emerged from the woman’s mouth. She was 37 years old at the time, nearly two decades later. Let’s take a look...

Villa Carlos Paz is a classic Argentinean tourist destination. It is located some 30 kilometers west of Cordoba. There we can find the “La Cuesta” motel, along Route No. 20 and some two kilometers from the center of town. It is owned by Mr. Pedro J. Pretzel. His daughter Maria Elodia, 19, helps her father in running the establishment.

Maria Elodia Pretzel is a determined young woman, well thought of in her community, and who is not given to reading science fiction. Early that year, she underwent surgery. After recovery, she assisted in managing the hotel. But her life changed one morning in June 1968: at around 1:00 a.m. on the 14th, Mr. Pedro Pretzel was driving back home along Route 20 when he saw “two large red lights over the road, too far apart to be the tail lights of another car” some 50 meters from his motel. Finding the front door open was also disconcerting, as he knew his daughter to be quite conscientious about such things. As soon as he entered the house, he headed for her bedroom, only to find the young woman spread out on the bed, unconscious. What had happened there?

After bidding two guests farewell, Maria Elodia went to the kitchen and found that a considerable amount of light was pouring into the hallway. Thinking that someone had left the living room lights on, she went in and was faced with a strange and extraordinary visitor: a large figure, standing in excess of 2 meters, blonde, hair combed backward with a friendly facial expression, stood a short distance away. He was clad in some sort of jumpsuit, light blue, covering his body from his neck down to his feet. Small luminous rays poured from his fingertips. In his left hand he carried a crystal orb that emitted bright beams of light. In his right hand he bore a ring, almost a gauntlet. According to the young woman, every time the being raised the gauntlet, “it was as though he himself rose into the air and remained suspended...”


Maria Elodia was able to dash for the safety of the counter, even as the entity moved the orb constantly and tried to get near her. She claims that she could hear, in the recesses of her mind, a message that repeated: “Don’t be afraid...”

Suddenly, the bright orb went out. The stranger stopped, spun around and withdrew toward the outside door. As he turned, the experiencer was able to see a kind of skirt around him, but the truly uncanny event occurred as he approached the door: it opened by itself and closed as he departed.

From that moment on, Maria Elodia, who had backed away, remembered nothing more. A few moments later, her father arrived.

Dr. Hugo V. Vaggione, 33, knows the young woman well, as he is the Pretzel family’s physician. According to the doctor, she is a serious, somewhat introverted and very responsible person. He diagnosed her as being in a “pronounced state of nerves” after the ordeal, due to emotional impact, but far from a breakdown. She was perfectly coordinated in her statements, and her blood pressure was normal. Finding her mentally and physically sound, the doctor can find no reason for deception or hallucination...

While the Pretzel Case does not present the physical evidence so longingly sought by everyone (footprints, remains, etc.) unofficial versions stated that traces of radioactivity were found in the motel’s carport and in areas where the “visitor” entered. There are only four (4) cases in Argentina where radiation has been detected.

This type of humanoid, prevalent in the 1960s and which is rarely seen nowadays, yielded its place to the ubiquitous Greys, which appear to have co-opted most of the entity case histories. There was, however, another close encounter in Argentina with an occupant resembling the one in the Villa Carlos Paz incident. This was the famous encounter at La Florida, in San Luis, where a tall figure, similarly clad, appeared before three fishermen on the night of February 4-5, 1978. Regarding the correlation of cases, that night (June 13-14, 1968) involved numerous UFO and humanoid sightings throughout various provinces in Argentina. Right there, in the vicinity of the “La Cuesta” motel, local residents reported seeing “two very powerful red lights” in flight around 22:00 hours on the evening of June 13.

If the night visitor, who arrived from who knows where, waited for the last couple to check out of the motel before entering...did the imminent arrival of Ms. Pretzel’s father interrupt any subsequent actions (the orb blinking out and the entity leaving)? These questions will remain unanswered in this memorable case.

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The following are references to this case:

*1968 - At 45 minutes after midnight Mr. Pedro Pretzel, a 36-year-old hotel proprietor in the resort town of Villa Carlos Paz, Cordoba, Argentina sighted a UFO with two very intense beams of red light while walking home. A short while later his 19-year-old daughter Maria, who had been working as the hotel receptionist, encountered a six and a half foot tall blond man dressed in a sky blue diver suit, holding a sky blue sphere in his left hand. On his right hand was a huge ring, like a gauntlet covering half his hand. The ends of his fingers and toes emitted light, and whenever he pointed his hand at her she felt faint and began to lose consciousness. He smiled and spoke to her in an unintelligible language for some minutes before leaving. (Sources: Charles Bowen, FSR, September-October 1968, p. 11; Jane Thomas, FSR, November-December 1972, p. 24; Oscar A Galindez, FSR, January 1981, p. 8; David F. Webb and Ted Bloecher, HUMCAT: Catalogue of Humanoid Reports, case 1968-32, citing FSR)

*Jun., 1968 Carlos Paz (Argentina). Pedro Pretzel, 39, motel
0050 owner, observed an object 50 m away on road 20,
showing two powerful red headlights. Arriving at his
room, the witness found his daughter unconscious.
When she came to, she said that a blond man, 2 m
tall, wearing a blue, bright suit, and holding a pale-
blue sphere in his hand, had appeared and spoken to
her. (LDLN 95)

*Villa Carlos Paz, Cordoba Argentina - June 14 1968 - 0050A

Pedro Pretzel, the proprietor of a motel, was walking home when he saw near the motel an object projecting 2 very intense beams of red light. On arriving home he found his 19-year old daughter Maria in a faint. She said she had encountered in the vestibule a blond man over 6 ft tall, dressed in a “diver’s suit” of sky blue scales, and holding in his left hand a sky-blue sphere. On his right hand was a huge ring, like a gauntlet half covering his hand. The ends of his fingers and toes emitted light, and whenever his hand pointed at her she felt weak. He smiled and spoke to her in an unintelligible language resembling Japanese for some minutes before leaving. As he walked out the rear door it opened by itself and then it slammed shut as the stranger walked out. She saw what appeared to be a type of skirt on the back of the stranger. Before he walked out Maria felt very dizzy and began sweating profusely in her mind she heard a voice telling her not to be afraid.

Source: Charles Bowen, FSR Vol. 14 # 5

************

This case peaked my interest, so I checked for other sightings around the same time and general location. I was surprised to find that there were several other humanoid sightings in Argentina before and after the Pretzel sighting and report:

*Near Buenos Aires, Argentina - June 4 1968 - 0100A
Walking home after midnight, artist Benjamin Solari Parravicini was suddenly confronted by a fair skinned man with eyes ‘so light in color that he looked as if blind,” who addressed him in an unintelligible guttural language. Looking upward, the witness saw only 50 yards away a hovering aerial craft, with no lights. He became dizzy, and when he recovered, he found himself inside the machine, with 3 other persons. One of these, very handsome, was questioning Parravicini in an alien language, which he was able to understand telepathically. They told him that they would taken him once around the earth, and he observed Japan, France, and Chile before being returned to the same street corner. Since this experience, the alien beings have contacted Parravicini several times.

Source: Gordon Creighton, FSR Vol. 14 # 5


*Cordoba, Argentina - about June 10 1968

A youth stated that he had been visited by a strange being whose body emitted rays of light, and who spoke a strange language he did not recognize. No other information.

Source: Newspaper source


*Cigarrales, Cordoba, Argentina - June 10 1968 - 0330A

Jorge Yaru, a member of the Argentine Navy, stepped out of his home to hear a very loud engine type noise, looking around he sees nothing and re-enters the house. Soon he again hears the noise and goes outside to investigate. Looking towards a nearby empty field he sees a hovering disc shaped object with a dome on top and one in the bottom, he estimates the craft to be about 1.50 meters in width and 6 meters in length, the craft was rotating in anti-clockwise manner. He watched the object for 45 minutes then the craft shoots away at a ninety-degree angle towards the nearby wooded hills. Mr. Yaru then feels a strange urge to bathe in a nearby brook, which he does, not withstanding the very low temperatures at the time. He strangely felt, as he had to “cleanse” himself. At the same time, a neighbor, Adela Garcia, heard the same noise and noticed in the same empty field a strange triangular shaped cloud from which a giant man-like figure, over 2 meters tall, with long blond hair, descended to the ground. The strange being, which Garcia likened to Jesus Christ, approaches her and she kneels before him. Turning away briefly from the being, she looks up and both the being and the triangular shaped cloud had vanished. At the empty field a large scorched area of grass was found.

Source: Revista Enigmas, Argentina


*La Armonia, Necochea, Argentina - June 14 1968 - late night

Catolicio Fernandez, a farmer, was in bed resting when two very tall human like figures appeared in his room. They were thin and wore tight fitting green shiny coveralls. The men sat on the edge of the witness bed and one of them raised his hand making the witness feel dizzy, he then lowered it and the witness felt better, they then left. No other information.

Source: Hector P Anganuzzi, Historia De Los Platos Voladores en Argentina


*Avellaneda, Buenos Aires, Argentina - June 20 1968

Eustaqui Zogorwski, 63, a Polish immigrant, claimed that on the above date he was drugged by a man who drove up to his house in Avellaneda in a black car. When he came to, he found himself in “an hallucinating world, where giant beings were dwelling in an aerial city.” Two of these beings, over 2 meters tall, conducted Mr. Zogorwski to a tower in the center of the city, seemingly suspended in space; he was seated at a table around which sat 12 similar giants. They took his arms and he began to “trace signs automatically.” He believed that they had “brain washed” him. He was finally released between the towns of Brinkmann and Cotagaita, in Cordoba, where the mysterious man in the black car picked him up and delivered him to his home.

Source: Newspaper source


"Laguna Paiva, Santa Fe, Argentina - June 24 1968 - 0110A

The witness, Mrs Dora Egger de Torrez was sleeping with her husband when she was suddenly awakened by a strong buzzing sound that was hurting her ears. When she turned around she noticed on the corner of the bedroom an oval-shaped light and inside of it two human-like figures, one tall, about 2 meters in height and the second only about 50 or 70cm in height. Both wore tight-fitting metallic brown diving suits and helmets with plastic-visors that covered their faces. The shorter creature seemed to move its hands and walked towards the witness who suddenly felt a sort of burning sensation in her body. The shorter figure appeared to have noticed and retreated backwards. The taller figures at times walked around the shorter humanoid at times showing his back. When the witness attempted to wake her husband the shorter figure again approached and she felt paralyzed, and could not move her hand, which seemed to bump against something invisible. She is not sure how long the observation lasted. The humanoids seemed to have communicated with her and she felt that they had told her that they would return someday. However she did not hear any words being spoken and did not noticed their lips moving. Finally the oval shaped light its occupants seemed to suddenly shrink in size until vanishing from sight along with the loud buzzing sound. Only at that moment was Dora able to wake her husband punching him really hard on the stomach. He found his wife in an extremely excited state, repeating the phrase, “they will return”. Dora later found a strange blister on the top of her mouth that remained there for several days. A neighbor that visited the location noticed a strong odor resembling that of burning electrical wire, which appeared to be stronger on the corner where the humanoids had originally appeared.

Source: Dr. Oscar A Galindez, FSR Vol. 27 # 1


*Cerro De Las Rosas, Cordoba, Argentina - June 27 1968 - 1730

Three children, Hugo Cesar Messina, Oscar Crespo, and a 3rd boy whose name has been kept confidential were bicycling when they were surprised by the appearance of a silvery colored object, which had on its lower part a kind of helix, where lights of white and sky-blue were revolving. The UFO remained hovering about 20 meters up and 50 meters away from the boys. On the upper part of the object appeared a couple, a man, and a woman, floating in the air. They were of enormous stature, with long white hair, and wore luminous close fitting garments. Holding hands, they began to go down slowly, disappearing into the object without any door opening. The luminous helix began to rotate at greater speed, and the UFO went away at great speed.

Source: Carlos Banchs


*Lujan, Mendoza, Argentina - June 30 1968 - 0115A

Jose Paulino Nunez, a distillery worker, encountered on the beach two people he first took to be guards. Their dress and actions were like normal people, but they showed him a spherical device of some 30 cm in which he could see the images of people walking about. Speaking in a strange, metallic voice, one asked the witness, “Do you know these people? They were like you. Many more will be like them. Many people in the world will see the same thing you have seen. We will talk about this again. If you speak of this, be sure it is with responsible people.” At that point the witness experienced a lapse of memory, for the next thing he recalls was being back in the laboratory, where it took him an hour to compose himself. The people he saw in the images were all tall human like, with pale complexions, and long light colored hair, which appeared to be walking about in a trance like state.

Source: Richard Heiden, & Jader Pereira


*Ricardone Entre Rios, Argentina - July 1 1968 - 0400A

Returning home after a dance, 17-year-old Raul Salcedo encountered two strange beings nearly 10 ft tall. He “felt himself drawn towards them by the powerful magnetism radiated by them, which well nigh immobilized him,” but he broke free and fled home in terror. There was, simultaneously, a spate of UFO sightings locally and in nearby San Lorenzo.

Source: FSR Vol. 14 # 5Argentina: The Pretzel CE-3 and Possibly Related Humanoid Sightings
Posted: 30 Jun 2010 12:25 PM PDTScott Corrales of Inexplicata has posted the following fascinating article:

Venturing into the dark vaults of South American UFO lore, Contributing Editor Guillermo Gimenez brings us the story of a major CE-3 of a kind reported elsewhere in the Spanish-speaking Americas in the 20th century.

Walking home after midnight, artist Benjamin Solari Parravicini was suddenly confronted by a fair skinned man with eyes ‘so light in color that he looked as if blind,” who addressed him in an unintelligible guttural language. Looking upward, the witness saw only 50 yards away a hovering aerial craft, with no lights. He became dizzy, and when he recovered, he found himself inside the machine, with 3 other persons. One of these, very handsome, was questioning Parravicini in an alien language, which he was able to understand telepathically. They told him that they would taken him once around the earth, and he observed Japan, France, and Chile before being returned to the same street corner. Since this experience, the alien beings have contacted Parravicini several times.

Source: Gordon Creighton, FSR Vol. 14 # 5

Recorded in Phantoms and Monsters Blog on July 1, 2010