UFO hotspot or hotair?

by Tim Printy © August 2004

The Mexican UFO wave

Mexico city has been considered a UFO "hotspot" since the solar eclipse of 1991. On that date, millions of people watched as the moon blocked out the sun's light. As totality approached, many individuals noticed a bright object hovering in the sky. This object eventually disappeared sometime after totality ended. While Astronomers appeared to have missed this extraordinary object in the sky, many amateur videographers did not. When the tapes were shown to Jaime Maussan, he became very excited and stated, "When I saw it, I got so impressed by it that I couldn't sleep. Everytime I closed my eyes I saw this incredible UFO..." (UFOs).

Maussan urged amateur videographers to send their videos of strange aerial objects to him. His television program became a magnet for anything that remotely appeared to be strange. Within a few months, it seems that everyone in Mexico was seeing UFOs. According to Hector Excobar Sotomayor:

The UFO atmosphere in Mexico was ripe...In a few months there were reports of landings in many parts of the country such as Tula, Hidalgo, Poza Rica and Veracruz. There was a wave in Atlixico, Uebla, in which hundreds of people spent all night waiting to see the UFO (always at the same hour). The UFO was a bright yellow light with two smaller lights at its sides, one green, the other red. A similarity to the lights of an aeroplane or just a coincidence? (Devereux and Brookesmith 56)

The UFO wave was in full swing and being documented thanks to Jaime Maussan.

My investigations revealed that most, if not all, of the video clips taken during the solar eclipse were simply shots of the planet Venus. One could suggest the sensational presentation of these videos with the impression they were spaceships giving everyone a sign, might have started this wave of UFO reports/videos. Despite this possibility, the popular belief by many is that Mexico has undergone a "UFO invasion" and Jaime Maussan was monitoring the situation.

Jaime Maussan - Mexico leading UFO promoter

Investigative Journalist or willing believer?

Despite insistence by Maussan that these Solar eclipse lights were UFOs, he never apparently bothered to check with astronomers to determine the possible origin of the images or would not accept their answers. Maussan's comments regarding astronomers/scientists explains a lot:

But let me tell you something, are the astronomers, the scientists who are 'qualified' to say if the sightings on earth are truthful, I think they are well prepared and trained to look through the universe, beyond the atmosphere, but the astronomers are not prepared to look inside the earth. Then, and I don't know why many times, they are asked if this is true and we want to know what they think about it, in reality they don't know more than the normal average person because this is happening here and not outside earth. (Fowler)

Instead of getting people who know the sky to identify the lights, Maussan found it far easier/convenient to take the word of UFO "experts", that these were not planets or stars. Maussan had committed himself to the idea that Mexico was undergoing some great cosmic awareness and these UFOs were visitors from another world.

In September 1997, a new video appeared that had all the earmarks of a classic UFO. The video showed a large distinct flying "disc" was seen hovering over a district of Mexico city on August 6th. This was not some blurry object or night light. There could be no doubt that this was either an actual spaceship/exotic aerial object or a hoax. The video had been anonymously sent to Maussan, who immediately began to investigate the case. According to Bruce Maccabee,

Although the videographer has remained anonymous, Jaime told Michael Lindemann that since the Sept. 29 showing he has found more than a dozen witnesses by walking around the streets in the area asking people if they saw something unusual in August.

Several children claim to be able to draw the UO. One lady who was close to it claimed to have been burned, like a sunburn, as it passed overhead. Another claimed to have been under it and felt a downward force. This lady said that it turned away much faster than it appears on the video. Several said they saw lights on the bottom.

Michael Hesemann also interviewed witnesses on Dec. 3, 1997, while in the company of Alejandra Dehesa, a Mexican journalist who works for a different news agency (a rival of Maussan). They located the buildings which appear in the video and then walked around asking people if they had seen, or knew someone who had seen, the UO.

Ultimately by this manner they located and interviewed 7 witnesses and learned of 5 others who were not available to be interviewed at that time.

They learned that the office building where the video was shot has restricted entrance (a security system with guards; Hesemann was not allowed to enter) and hence the videographer must have worked for one of the companies in the building. There is no TV production company, computer company or video laboratory.

According to Hesemann, the witnesses came from all levels of society, with no connection at all.

Yet another witness investigation has been carried out by Lee and Brit Elders, who have located a number of other witnesses.

If it can be proven that these witnesses are not part of a rather large scale conspiracy, i.e., if the testimony is not a hoax, then this video will be important evidence of another reality right here on earth. (Maccabee)

Maussan championed the event and managed to get some media attention in the United States with a special on UPN television entitled, "Danger In Our Skies: The New UFO Threat". The euphoria surrounding the video quickly changed. By mid-1998, UFOlogists/video analyst Jeff Sainio revealed he had discovered indications that the video was a clever computer hoax! Maussan seemed somewhat perplexed that somebody would go through such an effort and could not understand why "honest" witnesses would report they had seen a huge UFO when none existed.

It doesn't stop there though. Maussan has promoted some of the more ridiculous cases in UFOlogy. Royce Myer's website UFO Watchdog lists Maussan as part of the "hall of shame" for UFOlogy. According to Myers:

Constantly claims to have scientific proof, but nevers seems able to produce it when asked. Claimed to have radar tapes confirming UFOs in Mexico airspace. Was reportedly asked for the tapes - the tapes never came to fruition. Supported Hale-Bopp UFO hoax made infamous via Art Bell and Courtney Brown. Told people at a 1996 UFO conference that stars in the sky were actually giant UFOs hovering in space above the planet. Said this was reason stars shifted position in sky! Sold infamous tape of daylight UFO to a television network for a reported $120,000 - the tape was proven to be a hoax. Maussan has also supported the Billy Meier UFO fraud. Maussan is now best known for his promotion of the shameless Reed UFO Fraud. Maussan claims to have scientific proof of the Reed UFO Fraud - again, he has yet to produce it. Is reported to be selling a TV series to Telemundo in L.A. - one episode is on the Reed UFO Fraud except that Maussan is pushing it as real. Beware of journalists that don't report all of the facts...(Myers)

Maussan's belief in alien spaceships blinds him from any reasonable investigative process and he can not be considered an objective observer. It seems Maussan's efforts are more centered on self-promotion than serious investigation/science. By 2004, despite his "will to believe" in UFOs, Maussan was still considered by many in Mexico as some sort of UFO expert. As a result, the military turned to him when they were perplexed by the report of their aircrew and accompanying video tape.

Works Cited

Devereux, Paul and Peter Brookesmith. UFOs and UFOlogy: The first 50 years. New York, NY: Facts On File, Inc. 1997

Fowler, Chris. Interview with Jaime Maussan. Available WWW: http://www.truthseekers.freeserve.co.uk/truth/tr18jaime.html

Maccabee, Bruce. "Mexico City, 08-06-97 Video - Further Analysis " 17 March 1998.UFO Updates Mailing list. On line posting. Available WWW: http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/1998/mar/m17-012.shtml

Myers, Royce. UFO Hall of shame 4. Available WWW: http://www.ufowatchdog.com/hall4.html

Executive Prod. Robert Kiviat, Prod. David Roehrig, Nar. Johnathan Frakes. UFOs: The best evidence ever (caught on tape). FOX. Kiviat Productions Inc. 1997

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