1965 · Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica (Argentine Destacamento Naval Decepción, Chilean Base Pedro Aguirre Cerda, British Base B; about 62.97S 60.65W)

Deception Island: two base commanders and an Argentine Navy communiqué (Antarctica, 1965)

Sourced, unconfirmed

Strength C · 6/10 · 2 independent

Evidence 1/4 · Witnesses 3/3 · Backing 2/3

Two named base commanders of two nations reported firsthand and the Argentine Navy issued a communiqué; the theodolite data, magnetograms and photographs are claimed but not seen.

Plausibility Very high

Score 16 · 10 factors for, 0 against

Two named commanders of rival national bases reported the same night through official channels, with restraint, and the Argentine Navy confirmed instrument interference in a public communiqué; the instrument records and photographs have not yet been seen.

See the factors ↓

Unresolved

3 July 1965: base personnel on Deception Island watch a lens-shaped object, yellowish red turning green, manoeuvre over the caldera bay. · Illustration for uaptrail.com

WhenJune to July 1965; main sighting 3 July 1965, 19:40

WhereDeception Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica (Argentine Destacamento Naval Decepción, Chilean Base Pedro Aguirre Cerda, British Base B; about 62.97S 60.65W)

Backing2 independent

Evidenceofficial records

In the southern winter of 1965 the Argentine, Chilean and British crews on Deception Island, in the South Shetlands, reported luminous objects over several weeks. On the evening of 3 July the Chilean base commander, Air Force officer Mario Jahn Barrera, watched an object that changed colour from yellowish red to green, yellow and orange, zigzagged at great speed and then hovered for about 20 minutes. He radioed Chile's Defense Ministry that it was 'something real', not a star and not an aircraft, and said a corporal had photographed it. Across the bay, 17 people at the Argentine naval detachment watched it and followed it with the base theodolite. Argentina's Navy issued a communiqué quoting the detachment commander, Lt. Daniel Perissé, that it was 'neither balloon, nor star, nor aircraft', and confirmed that it disturbed the base's electromagnetic instruments. A meteor, a satellite or bright planets were later proposed; natural cause proposed, not demonstrated.

Evidence, in date order (2)

8 Jul 1965Argentine Secretaría de Marina (Navy)official
official communiqué quoting the base commander and confirming interference on the base's electromagnetic instruments AP wire, Santiago, 8 Jul 1965 (Boston Globe, 9 Jul 1965)
8 Jul 1965Mario Jahn Barrera, Chilean base commanderofficial
radio report to Chile's Defense Ministry AP wire, Santiago, 8 Jul 1965 (Boston Globe, 9 Jul 1965)

How plausible · Very high

●●
Access Both commanders were on site; Jahn's party watched the object hover for about 20 minutes through field glasses and telescopes, and the Argentine crew followed it with the base theodolite.
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No gain sought Serving officers on winter Antarctic duty; no book, fee or publicity sought in 1965 that any source records.
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Character record Commanders of national Antarctic stations, one Navy and one Air Force; Perissé later rose to Capitán de Fragata.
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Checkable details check out Dated AP wire, named officers, named bases, a date and a time; the communiqué and the naval intelligence forms sit in Argentine archives.
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Physical traces or official reaction Official reaction and sensor data: the Secretaría de Marina issued a communiqué and confirmed interference on the Argentine base's magnetic instruments; theodolite readings are reported. Keep at 2 if the magnetometer readings or Perissé's forms turn up and match; drop to 1 if they don't hold up.
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Independent convergence Two commanders of two nations, 17 Argentine personnel and the British Base B crew reported the object or similar lights independently.

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 2026-11-10.

On the record

The AP wire of 8 July 1965 (Boston Globe, 9 July) quotes both commanders and the Argentine Navy communiqué; read in Patrick Gross's transcription.
Both commanders are firsthand and named; the 17 Argentine personnel, the Chilean corporal and the British Base B crew are unnamed.

Claims

On the evening of Saturday 3 July 1965 the commander of Chile's Antarctic base, Mario Jahn Barrera, saw an object that 'moved at amazing speed, manoeuvered quickly and gave off a blue green sheen'. It was 'yellowish red, changing to green, yellow and orange', zigzagged, then stopped, and his party watched it through field glasses and telescopes for about 20 minutes.Mario Jahn BarrerafirsthandSourced, unconfirmedMario Jahn Barrera, radio report to Chile's Defense Ministry (AP wire, Santiago, 8 Jul 1965 (Boston Globe, 9 Jul 1965))

Jahn said it would be too much to say that 'all of us saw a flying saucer, one of these science fiction things', but 'it was something real'. 'I can say it was not a star, because its movement was rapid and continuous. As to being an aircraft, I do not think so. I am an Air Force man and from what I know about aircraft there is nothing like it, because of its shape, the speed and maneuverability.'Mario Jahn BarrerafirsthandSourced, unconfirmedMario Jahn Barrera, radio report to Chile's Defense Ministry (AP wire, Santiago, 8 Jul 1965 (Boston Globe, 9 Jul 1965))

Jahn said a corporal at the Chilean base took colour photographs, but there were no facilities to develop the film, which had to wait some eight months for the relief ship to reach the mainland.Mario Jahn BarrerafirsthandSourced, unconfirmedMario Jahn Barrera, radio report to Chile's Defense Ministry (AP wire, Santiago, 8 Jul 1965 (Boston Globe, 9 Jul 1965))

In Buenos Aires the Navy (Secretaría de Marina) issued a communiqué saying personnel at Argentina's base on Deception saw the flying object and photographed it, and confirmed that it caused interference in the base's electromagnetic instruments, as Jahn had reported.firsthandOn the recordArgentine Secretaría de Marina communiqué, July 1965 (AP wire, Santiago, 8 Jul 1965 (Boston Globe, 9 Jul 1965))

The communiqué quoted Lt. Daniel Perissé, commanding the naval detachment at Deception: 'The characteristics of the object and its movement show that it was neither balloon, nor star, nor aircraft.' He added that it was seen in conditions exceptional for the season: 'a clear sky, some isolated stratocumulus, the moon visible in the waning quarter.'Daniel PerisséfirsthandOn the recordTeniente de Navío Daniel Perissé, quoted in the Secretaría de Marina communiqué (AP wire, Santiago, 8 Jul 1965 (Boston Globe, 9 Jul 1965))

At 19:40 on 3 July, 17 people at the Argentine detachment watched the object manoeuvre; the crew followed it with the meteorological theodolite to work out its track, height and speed, and the base's variometer magnetometers showed disturbances at the times of the June and July sightings. Perissé gathered the accounts and sent a report up the naval chain, which became the basis of the communiqué.Daniel PerissésecondhandSourced, unconfirmedPipol News (9 Nov 2026), summarising Perissé's report

Through June and July 1965 personnel at the British Base B and the Chilean Base Pedro Aguirre Cerda on the same island also reported luminous objects, some with electromagnetic disturbances.anonymousSourced, unconfirmedPatrick Gross casebook and Pipol News, from 1965 press reports

Patrick Gross's casebook calls the 3 July sighting the second official acknowledgment of a UFO by Argentina's armed forces, and notes that across the whole June and July series the press accounts rarely let one tell craft from aurora or other phenomena.analysisSourced, unconfirmedPatrick Gross, UFOs at close sight casebook

Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos's 2012 FOTOCAT report is said to publish the five Argentine Naval Intelligence UFO forms Perissé filled in, and proposes a meteor, the Echo II satellite, Mars, Spica or Arcturus for the sightings.analysisLeadVicente-Juan Ballester Olmos (FOTOCAT report, 2012), as cited by Inexplicata and Patrick Gross

In The picture

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People and organizations

Daniel Perissé person Mario Jahn Barrera person