Canarias 1976: the corvette, the doctor and the sphere
On the night of 22 June 1976 the crew of the Spanish Navy corvette Atrevida off Fuerteventura watched a light rise, stop, grow a bluish halo, split and spiral upward. Across the water on Gran Canaria a taxi driver and a doctor saw a sphere about 30 m wide hovering near the ground with two red figures inside; police, a teacher, farmers and a radar sergeant also reported it. An Air Force judge took 13 graded statements. A missile test has been proposed but does not explain the sphere.
Evidence, in date order (3)
- 1976Spanish Air Force Juez Informador (Comandante, name redacted)officialInforme 01/76: 13 graded witness statements; EVA-8 found no anomalous tracks or faults file 760622
- 21 Jul 1976Canarias Air Zone generalofficial'personal interpretation' of 21 Jul 1976
- 13 Jul 1994Spanish Air Forceofficialdeclassified the file (JEMA 2866, 13 Jul 1994)
How plausible · High
A Navy crew and a dozen civilians, police and radar staff gave statements in an Air Force judge's graded report; a missile test is proposed but does not fit the figures seen in the sphere.
- ●●Access Navy crew, doctor, radar staff.
- ●●No gain sought Official statements.
- ●●Character record Naval officers, a doctor, police.
- ●●Independent convergence Many independent witnesses.
- ●●Checkable details check out Declassified Spanish file.
- ●○Restraint Plain description.
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.