“Not at first. We looked for Adan. We called him. Went to his room, but he wasn’t there. All day we waited. My father looked for him; we all looked for him. By evening, all the neighbors were looking for him, but he never came home. He was never found.”
“When did you tell your father about the lights?” I asked.
“Gabriella and I told him that night. We were afraid he would be angry, but instead he scoffed at the idea that a UFO abducted him.”
“What do you think happened to him?”
“My father believes that he wandered off into the jungle. Perhaps he was hurt and suffered from amnesia. Perhaps he was kidnapped, but no one ever asked for a reward. If he were kidnapped, he is probably dead. I prefer to believe the aliens took him. I know they took him. Papa still believes he will return.”
“What do you think happened to him?”
“I think aliens took him. There was a light, a blue light. It lit up the whole yard. It came from above the trees. I saw the silhouette of a UFO over the trees.”
“Did you describe what you saw to your father?” I asked.
“I told him, but he told me never to repeat such nonsense. He said I was dreaming, but I wasn’t. I know what happened that night. Those balls of light were aliens. They coaxed him into the backyard and took him. When it happened, I thought they would return him, but it has been nine years and he is still gone. My father looks for him every day.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“At first I blamed myself. If I had let him sleep, he would not have been on the veranda that night, but I did and he is gone. Some days I look for him, too. I think I’ll wake up, and everything will be normal. But it isn’t. My father has not been the same since that day. He took my mother’s death very hard, but we knew it was coming, but Adan’s disappearance was not expected.”
“Can you describe the silhouette you saw that night?” I asked.
“I could make out a circular shadow. It cast a blue light upon the ground. There were three balls of light that came out of it. They materialized into human-like figures. That is what I remember. Gabriella remembers the blue light and the balls of light, but nothing else. I know what I saw. My brother was abducted.”
“Have you seen UFOs since that night?” I asked.
“All of the time. They come and playfully zip above the trees. I have not seen the balls of light since that time. Just the spacecraft. Sometimes I wonder if Adan is there with them, checking on Dad and me. I tell myself he is, but that his job in his other world is so important, he has no time to stop in and tell us he is all right. It would help if he would do that. I believe someday he will return. I hope so. Then Dad could find some peace.”
“Perhaps someday he will,” I replied.
“Perhaps. It is something I hold on to.”
I met Evelyn in 2004. She has since married and is the mother of a young daughter. She and her husband have taken over the management of the orange orchard and live at the hacienda with her ailing father. We remain in contact via e-mail, and I have visited her several times. On one occasion, she and her husband came to Montana and spent a week with me. She has never wavered in her belief that someday her brother will return.
Chapter 40
The Aluxes Are Aliens
In 1843, explorer John L. Stephens wrote Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, an account of his second trip through the Maya world. He related that upon his arrival at Uxmal, he met a local Maya man who was seated under a portal at the base of the Pyramid of the Magician. The man told him the legend associated with the Pyramid. He said that it had been foretold that when a certain gong was sounded, the town of Uxmal would fall to a boy “not born of woman.” One day, a dwarf boy, who had been raised from an egg by a witch, sounded the gong, which struck fear into the ruler, who responded by ordering the boy to be executed. When the day of execution arrived, the ruler promised that the boy’s life would be saved if he could build a giant pyramid in a single night. The boy achieved the task, and eventually, after completing several tasks, he became the new ruler of Uxmal. The elders say that he was assisted by sky beings who used huge flying machines to move stones.
The Pyramid of the Magician, the result of the dwarf’s overnight building project, is the first structure a visitor encounters entering the ceremonial area of Uxmal. There are some stories that suggest that the dwarf who became the king encouraged the aluxes, or little people, to inhabit Uxmal. Augustus Le Plongeon, a British-American photographer and archaeologist, believed that a tiny race of people inhabited Uxmal. Although his theory was never accepted by the scholars of his time, he was adamant about his belief and pointed to the hundreds of tiny rooms inside the pyramid as proof of his theory.
In Mexico and Guatemala, the Maya tell stories about a tiny race of people, known as the aluxes. They are described as being small, only about knee-high, and resembling miniature, traditionally dressed Maya people. In this chapter you will hear an account of a Maya woman who encountered aluxes. She associated the little people with a UFO she had seen earlier in the evening.
Her name was Maria. She described herself as a Yucatec Maya. A woman in her late thirties, she had a round face and wide smile, which revealed front teeth capped with gold. She wore the traditional huipil, a tunic-like, white embroidered dress worn by the women in the Yucatan. She explained that the embroidered designs around the top of her dress and at the hem represented the cosmos, the gods, and their helpers, and that when a Maya woman wears the huipil she becomes the center of this symbolically represented universe. Marriage at fourteen ended her formal education, although she admitted that one of her favorite pastimes was reading and taking English classes when they are offered by traveling tourist in need of money. As a mother of six girls, she dreamed that her girls would become schoolteachers and would be able to teach their students traditional stories of the Maya while preparing them for modern society.
“My girls know the traditional stories. Their favorite stories are about the aluxes, the little people,” she said. “But there are different kinds of little people. There are the aluxes of the ancestors and there are aluxes that are strange and different from the little people known to the Maya.”
“Can you explain?”
“The Maya aluxes are tiny people; maybe they come to my knees. These new aluxes are taller.” She held her hand slightly above her waist. I estimated the creatures she had seen were closer to two-and-a-half to three feet tall.
“Where did you see them?” I asked.
“I was looking for wood. It is difficult to find wood today. I have to walk long distances. I saw them in a clump of trees.”
“How many?
“There were six. They were standing around this round ball of light.”
“Can you describe the light?”
“It was bluish-white. Very bright. They linked arms and stood very still. Like small monuments.”
“Do you have any idea what they were doing?”
“They just stood there and for a while I watched, but then I got afraid. I worried they might discover me and I slipped away. When I was out of sight, I ran to the main highway. A neighbor came along and gave me a ride in his truck.”
“Why did you become afraid?” I asked.
“Earlier in the evening, I saw a metal object in the sky. It was very fast and fleeting. I told myself it was just a plane and ignored it. As I stood there, watching these six little men, who were not aluxes, I thought perhaps they belonged to that object. Then, I got afraid.”
“Did you see the UFO again?”
“As I said, as I got back to the highway, I met my neighbor. He stopped and I climbed into the back of his truck. I was trembling and cold, and yet it was warm outside, even in the nighttime.”
“And the UFO?”
“We were driving along, and that is when I saw it again. It came out of the trees where I had been standing. It came over the truck and hovered there. I was so frightened.”
“Did the driver see it?”
; “Yes. He pulled to the side of the highway. I was screaming for him to drive and get home, but he ignored me. He climbed into the back of the truck and waved at the craft. I was sure they were going to do something to us.”
“But they didn’t,” I said.
“No. They flew upward and then they were gone.”
“Have you seen them since that time?”
“No. But I know they were not the aluxes of the Maya. The real aluxes are smaller and dress like the old Maya. These little men did not dress like Maya. They wore glowing uniforms. They stood around the glowing light. I thought for a moment they were praying. I can tell you that their heads were too big for their bodies. That seemed strange to me.”
“Can you describe the spacecraft?”
“Only that it was round and big and metal. There was a strange smell and when they flew over us, I felt a mist. The next day I was sick and stayed in bed. For a long time, I was weak. I am stronger now. I have to be strong for my husband and girls. I have to work.”
“Did you have a rash?”
“Only trouble breathing and a weakness in my bones. I think these aluxes were aliens. I don’t know why they are here or what they are doing, but I tell my girls to stay away from shaded areas. It is a dangerous world we live in today.”
I have seen Maria several times since our initial meeting. She is a waitress at one of my favorite hotels in the Yucatan. When she sees me enter the restaurant, she immediately comes to my table so that we can visit. Although she has not seen any more small aliens, she continues to believe that the little men she saw in the forests were not aluxes.
Chapter 41
The Great Mystery
On their second expedition to the Yucatan in 1841, Stephens and Catherwood explored the area around Uxmal and discovered the remains of several other ancient cities, including Kabah, Sayil, and Labna. They published an illustrated description of Sayil in their 1843 book, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. They referred to the site as “Zayi.”
During my first visit to the sites, I stayed at the Mayaland Lodge of Uxmal and used it as a base for my travels around the Yucatan. Sayil lies south of Uxmal. One afternoon I visited the ancient site. I met an artist who lived near Sayil. As we discussed his artwork and the intricate, wooden carving of the sarcophagus of Pakal I purchased, we talked about UFOs. He told me a story about an event that happened to him as a child.
In this chapter you will read Jorge’s story.
“In those days, we had a good life. We had some land, chickens, and pigs. My father had honey bees. We grew corn and peppers. We had fruit trees in the backyard. We had no electricity, no cell phones, cars, or running water. But we were happy. We knew nothing of radio, television, or airplanes. We knew nothing of UFOs. We knew nothing of things that flew through the air.” Jorge paused and lit a cigarette. He took his time, blowing smoke into the hot, humid air before continuing. He wore jeans and a t-shirt, and a wide-brimmed straw hat to protect him from the relentless sun. Sisal sandals protected his feet. A small, sinewy man with skin the color of cinnamon, his arms were muscular, obviously from carving the hardwoods. He asked his wife to take over the sales counter as he led me to the back of the open-air tent and to shade.
“How old were you when you had your first encounter with a UFO?” I asked as we settled on a bench near the back of the tent.
“Eight years old or so.”
“Can you tell me about the encounter?”
“It was a beautiful evening. I remember it was a full moon. We decided to walk to our cousins. They lived less than a half kilometer (.3 miles) away. The moon lit our way. After we visited, we started our walk home. By that time it was dark. Clouds had come up and hid the moon.”
“Who was with you?” I asked.
“My brother. He was older. About ten years old. When we caught sight of the house we raced each other to the backyard. We needed to latch the chicken pen and make sure the hogs were safe. Our mama hog had nine little piglets and we had to make sure they were all safely locked up for the night.”
“Was your brother with you at that time?”
“Yes. He was helping me. Just as we latched the chicken pen, a very bright light filled the backyard. I jumped back behind the chicken pen and my brother, too. We were frightened. We watched as the light changed from a very bright white to orange and then blue.”
“So the blinding light changed. Is that what you are saying?”
“Yes. It was just a beautiful glow. A warm feeling.”
“Did the light shine on you?”
“I don’t remember. I only remember the light moving slowly over the trees, and then it disappeared. There was no sound. Only this warm feeling.”
“What did you do once the light was gone?”
“We ran into the house and lay down for fear it would come back and see us. We waited for maybe an hour, and then the sun started to come up. We were more confused than ever. It had only been a few minutes ago when we were at our cousins’ house. How could it be daylight? We were confused.”
“Do you have any recollection of being taken onboard a UFO?”
“None. My brother said that two strange men appeared near our chicken pen, but I never saw them. He said they were like machines.”
“What did he mean when he said they were like machines?”
“I remember he said they walked strange, like a wind-up tin toy we had.”
“What were they doing at your chicken house?”
“I am not sure.”
“Did they steal your chickens?”
“That is the great mystery. One of our chickens was gone and had been replaced by a strange chicken. It was totally black. We had no black chickens. My mother was upset. She thought it was a devil chicken, and she killed it and we ate it. It tasted like a regular chicken. Mama said if you kill evil and eat it, it cannot hurt you.”
“Can you tell me more about the two men?”
“I did not see them. If I did, I don’t remember. I was so frightened that I panicked. I could not talk for days. I was that scared. I had large red bump on my arm and my stomach hurt. I had a high fever. My mother worried about me, but as the days passed, she thought I was cursed by the Devil. My father and his friends performed religious ceremonies. Eventually, I got out of the hammock and walked around, and soon I was back to my old self.”
“Did you tell your mother what happened to you?”
“No. We told our cousins, and they laughed at us. They said we were imagining things in the night. They laughed so hard we never told another person. We just kept it to ourselves.”
“Have you seen other UFOs since that time?”
“Two times. Once when I was about fourteen. I was working with my brother. We were harvesting our corn. It was a hot, sunny day. There was not a cloud in the sky when it came. It was a round, silver object. Not too big, but big enough to block out the sun. They landed in the field near us. We hid behind a rock so they would not see us.”
“Did they discover you?”
“I didn’t remember anything after they landed. My brother said that he saw two men again.”
“Did he tell you how tall they were?”
“About one meter (3 1/3 feet). They were funny looking too. All the same color and skin like a blue squash. No wrinkles like a newborn baby but blue skin. Have you ever seen a blue squash?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember the color of the squash?”
“Yes.”
“That was the exact color of their skin according to my brother. He said they were not from around here. We had nobody who looked like that.”
“Where does your brother live?”
“He died two years ago. I blame the UFO and those strange men. He always believed they took him and did awful things to him. He was never strong after that first night. Always sick. My mother protected him from our father. He became an artist, too. He was better than me. I use to sell his artwork. We were partners until the end.”
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sp; “What kind of things did the men do to your brother?”
“They stuck needles in his head and belly like they were doctors. But he said they were no doctors. They just acted like doctors.”
“Why did he believe they were not doctors?”
“Because he was not in a hospital. He was in some strange place that smelled evil. It made him sick instead of feeling good. That is not a doctor’s office. A doctor is suppose to make you feel better. These men made him feel bad.”
“Can you tell me anything else?”
“I saw another UFO when I was about thirty-five. By that time, I knew more about them. My son learned about them in school. He told me that these machines came from the sky. I am not sure about that. If they are so smart, why would they steal a chicken and replace it with one that doesn’t belong to us? They have to be stupid to do such a thing. It is the biggest mystery of my life.”
I remember Jorge nearly every night when I make sure my chickens are safely inside their coop and away from raccoons, foxes, skunks, and any other night predators that traverse my backyard. I always look at the night sky but so far, there has been no attempt to replace my chickens with an alien one, although I do have two solid black girls among my flock. The farm co-op salesman said they originated in Australia, not space.
Chapter 42
The Healers
It is unknown how many people experience UFO healings. Thomas E. Bullard, a well-known American folklorist who has examined UFO encounters as folklore, conducted a study of270 abduction accounts and concluded that four percent (thirteen cases) experienced UFO healings. He reported in The Myth and Mystery of UFOs that many of the cures appeared to be the result of a “deliberate intervention” and that the cures required advanced medical expertise. In other words, diseases that were beyond human medical science appeared to be easily cured by extraterrestrials.
In this chapter, you will meet Salvador, who was diagnosed as being in the last stages of lung cancer and was cured by an “angel from the stars.”
I met Salvador through his wife, Carla, a Maya woman I met at a small village near Uxmal. Her father was a close friend of my driver, Auturo. Auturo, who had picked me up at my Merida hotel, had been recommended by the concierge. Once I climbed into his van, he asked if I minded if we stopped off at his cousin’s house so that he could deliver some cornbread from his wife. When we arrived at Carla’s house, we were greeted by several children, who rushed to Auturo and hugged him. He reached in his pocket and handed each of them candies and coins.
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