1995 · approach to San Carlos de Bariloche airport, Río Negro, Argentina

Bariloche: flight AR 674 and the light over Lake Nahuel Huapi

On the record

Strength A · 9/10 · 4 independent

Evidence 3/4 · Witnesses 3/3 · Backing 3/3

A named airline captain, a second aircrew, controllers and ground witnesses all reported lights and the Argentine Air Force studied it twice, though it has since offered a searchlight and the Piper as causes.

Plausibility High

Score 13 · 8 factors for, 0 against

A named captain, a second crew, controllers and ground witnesses reported lights; the Air Force studied it twice.

See the factors ↓

Natural cause proposed, not demonstrated

Mirror copy of CIAE Informe 2018 (read) · page 1 of 81 · war.gov file, via the ufotransparency.com mirror

When31 July 1995, about 20:00-21:00 local (UTC-3)

Whereapproach to San Carlos de Bariloche airport, Río Negro, Argentina

Backing4 independent

Witnesses3 named

Evidencedocuments

In their own words

“en trayectoria opuesta, el acercamiento de luces con fuerte intensidad", and the object on his right showed "luces verdes en sus extremos y una fuerte luz naranja en el centro de las luces”

Polanco

Two aircraft from Buenos Aires were converging on Bariloche at night while the city was blacked out by a general power cut. One was Aerolíneas Argentinas flight 674, a Boeing 727 commanded by Jorge Polanco. The other was a Gendarmería Nacional Piper PA-31T Cheyenne, GN-705. The airport was running on its generator, and it had no air-traffic radar at the time. The 727 crew reported a light that approached, sat off their right side and "formed" on them, and they called it a possible flying saucer. The Gendarmería crew later saw a white or amber light skim over the lake and climb sharply. Controllers and ground witnesses also reported lights, and the airport generator failed during the 727's final approach, forcing a go-around. The Argentine Air Force's UFO commission (CEFAE, now CIAE) revisited the case twice: - 2018: it declared the case solved. The light the Gendarmería crew described matched, position for position, the beam of a powerful sky-searchlight that Juan Carlos Rivero was testing that night from the Rocket discotheque, reflected on the cloud base. This confirmed a hypothesis put forward in 1995 by Heriberto Janosch. - 2025: it reclassified the case as "multicausal". The over-lake (west) phase remains a GEIPAN Type A, an identified searchlight. The airport (east) phase is now a Type B, "probable". There the 727 crew most likely saw the Gendarmería Piper itself, about 11 nm closer than anyone thought, together with the searchlight testing coloured gels over Dina Huapi. This is one of the best-documented official reinvestigations in Latin America. The official trail comes from the Air Force itself, and it has a named light source and a named operator.

Evidence, in date order (4)

31 Jul 1995Gendarmería Nacional crew of GN-705 (Gaitán, Cipuzak)witness
saw a light skim the lake and climb sharply CEFAE Informe Anual 2018 (Fuerza Aérea Argentina)
31 Jul 1995Bariloche tower NCOs Ramón Alfredo Blanco and Daniel Alberto Garcíawitness
controllers who reported lights CEFAE Informe Anual 2018 (Fuerza Aérea Argentina)
31 Jul 1995Berta and Silverio Cabralwitness
ground witnesses at Dina Huapi CEFAE Informe Anual 2018 (Fuerza Aérea Argentina)
2 Aug 1995Claríndocument
press report at the time Clarín, 2 Aug 1995 (via Gross)

How plausible · High

A named captain, a second crew, controllers and ground witnesses reported lights; the Air Force studied it twice.

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Access Direct observation or instruments.
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No gain sought Nothing to gain.
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Character record Trained professionals.
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Independent convergence Independent sources agree.
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Checkable details check out Released official records.
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Cost of speaking Named on record.

Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.

On the record

The participants (CEFAE 2018): 727 crew: Polanco (captain), Carlos Atilio Dortona (co-pilot) and Jorge Allende (flight engineer), with Roberto Benavente, a B-747 captain, visiting the cockpit. GN-705 crew: Cte. Juan Domingo Gaitán (pilot), Cte. Rubén Cipuzak (aircraft commander) and a mechanic. Ground witnesses: Berta and Silverio Cabral (Dina Huapi), the tower NCOs Ramón Alfredo Blanco and Daniel Alberto García, and the meteorologist Nicolás Araya.
The tower told both aircraft it was on generator power because of a general city power cut. Bariloche had no ATC radar, so positions were plotted only from radio reports (CEFAE 2018).
When the 727 first reported a light "a las once", the tower replied: "Okey recibido, este tránsito tendría que estar ahora a cuarenta millas de Bariloche". That is, the controller took it to be the Gendarmería aircraft (VHF transcript, quoted in CEFAE 2018).
The tower asked GN-705 if it saw the object, and GN-705 answered "todavía no vemos nada". It confirmed a light to the right of AR 674 only a couple of miles later (CEFAE 2018).
The controller ordered the 727 to go around on final at 20:47, when the airport generator failed (CIAE 2025, citing Blanco's statement to the airport chief).
The searchlight operator, Juan Carlos Rivero, visited the CEFAE office and signed an *Acta* confirming his testimony (CIAE 2025).

Claims

An object with a defined structure, like an inverted saucer, approached and flew alongside the 727, answered the crew's light signals, and later climbed away toward the AndesfirsthandSourced, unconfirmedJorge Polanco; chain: Polanco → airport chief statement (1995) and media (e.g. *Almorzando con Mirtha Legrand*, 4 Aug 1995) → CEFAE 2018

The light that "formed" on the 727 was one light seen while the Gendarmería Piper was in view at the same time, "como a través de un velofirsthandSourced, unconfirmedCarlos Dortona (co-pilot), in a personal interview at CEFAE; chain: Dortona → CEFAE 2018

Algo nos encandiló" ("something dazzled us")firsthandSourced, unconfirmedCte. Rubén Cipuzak; chain: Cipuzak → Lianza (CEFAE 2018)

The cabin lights went out, and a large round white light was seen near the plane, then smaller green and orange lightsfirsthandSourced, unconfirmedMelina Mazzoleni (passenger, then 15); chain: Mazzoleni → Fénix 4 group → C5N

The airport's instruments all misbehaved at oncesecondhandSourced, unconfirmedpress accounts (via *Buenos Aires Times*/COMETA). The official record attributes the outage to the city blackout and then to the generator failing.