El Yunque, Nights on Hell Mountain
          By Scott Corrales
          Much has been written about the significant developments which have taken place in Puerto Rico over recent years, attracting the attention of UFO researchers from the four corners of the earth including an episode of FOX TV's "The X Files" series and assorted European and Japanese documentaries. While the bulk of this study has been centered around the alleged subterranean/ submarine base at Laguna Cartagena on the island's southwestern corner, another section of the island continues to demand the attention of every researcher: the Caribbean National Rainforest, better known by the name of one of its most prominent mountain peak, El Yunque.

          El Yunque certainly fits Coleridge's description of Xanadu," a savage place, holy and enchantedgt;>: the cloud-enshouded peak can easily be seen from as far away as the city of San Juan, and closer inspection reveals an ocean of unspoiled green as lush as that of any jungle. El Yunque was revered by the ancient Taino indians as the dwelling place of one of their deities, and there is proof that the Mayas traveled as far as Puerto Rico to venerate this spectacular place. Similarly, thousands of tourists from around the world visit this truly unique landmark However, El Yunque has a dark side which involves human disappearances. An undetermined number of hapless visitors have vanished since Taino days without any satisfactory explanation of their disappearance having ever been made. Many of these have been linked in recent times to the inordinate amount of UFO activity that takes place on the island. The only confirmation we can possibly have that nonhuman forces are involved in these happenings comes from the likeliest source: the ones that got away.

          In 1974, in the wake of a dramatic UFO flap which included cattle mutilations, strange creatures and Marian apparitions, an hour-long documentary aired on Puerto Rican television recounting highlights of the incredible events. One of the documentary's segments involved the curious story of a a group of young people who had found themselves besieged by thoroughly bizarre creatures during a visit to the rainforest.

          On the night of October 20 1973, nine campers--students led by three adults--had gone to El Yunque hoping to "contact" UFOs and their occupants. They made camp high up on a mountain trail, preparing to spend a night that would turn out to be the longest in their lives. Mr. Heriberto Ramos, the group's official leader, stated that at one point during their ascent along the trail, they met three persons heading downward. There was nothing "alien" about the trio aside from the fact that they all dressed exactly alike and with similar features. One of the group members, who had stayed behind, took a photo of both the other group members and the three mysterious walkers, but only a patch of mist appeared on the developed film where the trio stood.

          At a given moment that night, thoroughly convinced that an otherwise uneventful vigil lay ahead, the campers were surrounded by five or six vaguely humanoid figures which darted about the thick vegetation with claw-like hands and elongated ears. Some of the "monsters" blocked the precipice-flanked trail that constituted the only way down from the mountain and back to the safety of their vehicles.

          From a prudent distance, one of the creatures regarded Ramos intently. Upon noticing this, the latter tried walking cautiously toward the eldritch being, hoping to show that his group's intentions were amicable. Ramos stood less than ten feet away from the creature, and was able to describe it as having a triangular head, and "extraordinary" eyes. Amazingly, he managed to touch the strange being, which did not stir. Its skin felt neither cold nor rubbery. Almost simultaneously, one of the students lit a large, powerful flashlight in the direction where the contact was taking place, flooding the area with light.

          The clawed creature reacted by racing away from the scene, literally tearing a path right through the dense vegetation, which led to a 100 foot drop, giving the startled Ramos reason to think he had frightened the being into jumping. To the man's amazement, it reappeared instantly at the side of its fellows, which were still blocking the downward path.

          For endless hours until the sky began to lighten, the beseiged campers were surrounded by the beings, who remained in constant motion around them. Terror had led one of the students to bang himself repeatedly on the head with a flashlight, hoping to escape the situation by passing out. Seized by an inexplicable urge, another camper expressed a desire to take a walk in the woods. Fearing for his mental state, one of his companions offered to walk with him. Before they'd taken more than a dozen steps, they found what could only be described as a glimmering, polychromatic "egg" lying on the ground. While entranced by the curious flashing object, neither one felt brave enough to touch it. Later that night, they would see it in the claws of one of the nonhuman besiegers. Was it "bait" of some sort, its pulsating colors designed to mesmerize prey?

          At sunrise, the campers made a mad dash for the cars they'd left parked at the bottom of the mountain. Not a trace of the alien intruders remained aside from their footprints, which were much larger than a human's and appeared to have been made by very heavy creatures, in comparison to the smaller footprints left by the humans. Their valor rekindled by the morning light, the campers made plaster-of-paris casts of the prints and photographed them. These materials were stolen by unknown parties months after the incident, including valuable infrared prints.

          On a recent broadcast of ufologist Jorge Martin's "Ovnis Confidencial" radio show, Mr. Federico Alvarez retold an experience that transpired six months after the unhappy campers' ordeal.

          "Apariciones en El Yunque" "Ovnis Confidencial" WSKN, San Juan, P.R.W.
          In May 1974, Alvarez led a group of college students at midnight to El Yunque in an effort to see if there was any truth to the stories being circulated about the mountain rainforest's black reputation. Driving up to the peak in a car with its headlights off, the band of investigators had an early taste of the supernatural: a shadowy silhouette dashed across the darkened road ahead of their vehicle. No details could be made out of the figure, aside from the fact that "it was very tall."

          Four of the students, seated in the back seat, opened the doors and charged out in hot pursuit, charging through the dark woods. Alvarez stopped the vehicle and joined the chase, realizing that he and his peers were running along a "path" that appeared to have been previously cleared through the vegetation. The trail led to a large stone landing or "lookout point" from which the lights of San Juan could be seen in the distance. No trace of the mysterious shadow could be found. The students decided to make for the Yokah Observation Tower-- a three-story, turret-like structure that affords an excellent view of the surrounding countryside and the neighboring peaks. The incident with the elusive shadow had visibly disturbed some members of the expedition, causing nerves to fray. The possibility that they too might become the victims of a siege by unknown and inhuman forces was now all too real.

          As a rudimentary alarm system against possible intruders, Alvarez explained on Martin's program, the students devised an ingenious "tripwire" consisting of aluminum cans, which they strategically placed at the bottom of the stairway leading to the observation tower's top. "Between one thirty and one forty five in the morning," Alvarez stated, "The cans began to rattle." Hesitantly, the students descended from the tower's observation deck to witness an unsettling sight: the cans were moving around of their own accord, motivated by an invisible force. Some group members felt that things had gone far enough, and wanted to leave the site immediately, yet they were prevailed upon to remain for what promised to be another long night.

          Any doubts they might have had about UFOs were resolved at two o'clock in the morning, when a massive, coruscant oval--some 300 feet in diameter, by Alvarez's calculations--appeared from the gap between two adjacent peaks. It remained motionless for five minutes and in full view of the students before vanishing behind one of the mountains. The unknown craft did not reappear. ater in the radio interview, Alvarez added that he had returned to El Yunque several years later--this time to a campground on the other side of the rainforest--when around the "witching hour" of 2 a.m. electricity in the entire area went out. All those present automatically looked upward. A disk-shaped vehicle flew directly overhead and straight into El Yunque. The vehicle's wake was strong enough to topple a birthday cake that had been left on a picnic table.




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