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Monte Grande Disaster Remains Unexplained

Last week, we told all you all about the mysterious events in Monte Grande, Argentina, which remained unexplained. The short version: Late at night, there was a massive explosion that destroyed a few houses and left seven injured and one dead. Residents made various claims about what they saw, including blue and/or red fireballs. One man disseminated a photo he had taken of something flying through the sky, but later claimed it was falsified and was detained by the police. Several investigations took place, at least one of them by a ufologist. Authorities believed that the explosion was caused by an illegally rigged gas cylinder, but witnesses still weren’t buying it.

Residents of Monte Grande have put up signs demanding a real explanation. The one on the right reads, “It wasn’t gas. The residents want to know the truth.”

So now that we’ve recapped, what’s happened in the last week? A lot, actually. It’s come to light that Emilio Daniel Verón, the man who took the infamous photo, was detained along with his brother Jonathan. The story of their arrest is a bit confusing. Emilio claims that he was detained on the spot after showing journalists a photo of a shooting star he and his sister had seen on Sept. 11. How is that related to the incident in Monte Grande, which took place weeks later? He explained that he showed the photo to the journalists because it was “similar.” Either way, Emilio is now telling journalist that he feels the police and NASA used him to distract from the actual events, and that was just a pawn in their cover-up efforts.

It was also revealed that one of the firefighters giving statements to the press was in fact an impostor. He claimed to have found a burning crater that reeked of sulfur and that the fire was impossible to put out. He also said that authorities later covered the crater. The chief of the fire brigade came out saying that the “fireman” in question was no longer a fireman, having been fired a while ago, and that his statements were all false.

Residents of Monte Grande have also been showing their distaste with being ignored. They set up bonfires in protest, demanding that the authorities take into account their statements about what they had observed, and discard the gas leak explanation. The neighbors who didn’t actually see anything did feel and hear a rumbling followed by an explosion. But now, they feel that they’re being labeled as a “bunch of drunks” and as being responsible for the gas leak. And yes, “bunch of drunks” is a direct quote. Apparently police who were taking statements cut some people off saying, “You drank something before you went to bed.” Eesh.

Several UFO experts have also been talking about the Monte Grande incident. In this video Luis Burgos puts forth his theories and demonstrates some “evidence.” The interview is 13 minutes long, so I’ll save you the full recap, but if you’re into “hot chicks,” you might want to watch it, as the panel seems to be comprised of them. Burgos claims that after interviewing 30 witnesses, he found that the object didn’t just fall from the sky. It paused before landing on what he called “its target.” He explains that a taxi that was parked on the street wasn’t expulsed outward, like in a “normal” explosion, but was sucked into the debris. He also shows a photo of a chunk of ice that was found in the debris that has yet to melt. Coco Sily (yes, that’s his name) asks Burgos about the possibility of it being some sort of spy apparatus from the US, and Burgos agrees that it’s possible. And so on and so forth.

Interestingly enough, Argentina’s UFO study commission has not been a big presence in this story. I want to believe that they’re involved somehow, even if it’s not being publicized, seeing as so many people are still questioning what really happened. If supposed experts like Luis Burgos speaking on what appears to be an extremely trashy talk show is the only source of information and investigation we have, the truth is in trouble.