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This feature article appeared in FT 160 (July 2002). It describes a belated investigation into the strange case of Arcesio Bermudez - a farmer living in Anolaima, Colombia. In July 1969 Bermudez and his family witnessed a strange light in the sky which came to rest or hover not far from his house. Bermudez was the only one to approach the luminous object closely (circa 20 - 45 feet, depending on the account). He claimed to see a little man or humanoid figure in the object's light before it lifted off and flew away. A few days later Bermudez became severely ill. He was transported to a hospital in Bogota, where he died. His symptoms have been described as consistent with radiation poisoning. The strangeness didn't end with his burial back home in Anolaima.
FULL ARTICLE: (Still accessible via the Wayback Machine)
https://web.archive.org/web/20021208090812/http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/160_anolaima.shtml
SPIRIT IN THE SKY
How much are paranormal investigators missing because they are locked into the UFO explanation? In a case involving local folklore, mysterious lights and spooked rabbits, ALAN MURDIE demonstrates the value of re-opening old files and approaching them with an open mind. He asks what really killed a Colombian farmer in 1969?
This is one of those stories that becomes increasingly baffling the more its circumstances are re-examined. Elements of it will satisfy conventional UFO theorists, psycho-social explainers and even conspiracy buffs, but, 32 years later, the Bermudez family is still without final answers as to why 54year-old Arcesio Bermudez (pictured left), a father and uncle, died after an encounter with an unexplained flying object seen by multiple witnesses. ...
On 5 July 1969, the Bermudez family saw a strange light outside their farm near Anolaima, Colombia. The father, Arcesio Bermudez (left, from his death certificate), followed the light down a hill on foot. He came back frightened, saying he had seen a little man in the light. Soon afterwards, he became ill and was driven to a Bogota hospital, where he died a week later. Unaware of the alleged UFO link, the doctors at the autopsy thought the cause of death was due to a low body temperature and food poisoning.
The curious death of Arcesio Bermudez entered the UFO canon when it was retold in classics such as John A Keel's Operation Trojan Horse and Jacques Vallee's Confrontations1. The incident was investigated in 1969 by America's Aerial Phenomena Research Organisation (APRO), who sent a team to Colombia to interview witnesses and the coroners. ...
FULL ARTICLE: (Still accessible via the Wayback Machine)
https://web.archive.org/web/20021208090812/http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/160_anolaima.shtml
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