By Carlos Sainz, Alternativa OVNI (No. 5, July 2014)

Toward late November and during the month of December of 1983, the neighborhood of Villa Montoro on the outskirts of La Plata (capital of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina) became the epicenter for a series of reports by local residents – mainly children and teenagers – who claimed having witnessed encounters with small, greenish, humanoid entities. The case became known as “the little green men of La Plata” and it caused significant local interest in the early days of the restoration of democratic rule in the country.

The Facts

An abandoned house, located on a property on Calle 600 between 2nd and 3rd in the Villa Montoro neighborhood was the main scene of the alleged apparitions of these diminutive beings, which according to eyewitness reports, were green-skinned and stood no taller than 0.60 centimeters. Sightings of these small entities was not restricted to the house in question, and sightings and reports extended to several blocks around, giving rise to a veritable tidal wave of journalists, researchers, experts in supernatural phenomena and curiosity-seekers flooding the area constantly.

First Sightings

Diego Illi, 7 at the time, living at Calle 600 between 1st and 2nd, was perhaps the first to have a close encounter with the little men. This took place on Sunday, November 27 between 14:30 and 19:30 hours. “We went to play with Walter (a friend) in the abandoned house. We were climbing a tree when we saw them. Walter got scared and ran away. I stayed behind and played with them a lot. We climbed the tree limbs, and I also got to wrestle with one of them. Then they told me it was late and that I had to leave.” (1) 

Regarding the description of these beings, Diego noted: “They’re tiny – they come up to here,” pointing to his knee. “They’re green and have wrinkled faces, like old men. They had long nails, were dressed in green, had little boots and green caps.” Diego says he saw the little men eating quince and honey.

“I went back to the house but never found them again. I hope they come back. I’d like to see them again.”

Claudia Ortiz de Viguera, 21, lives across from the lot where the apparitions allegedly occurred. She remembers going out to smoke a cigarette on the evening of Sunday the 27th. “First I heard laughter, like that of children, coming from the playground, but while it’s true that they play there regularly, I found it odd that they should be playing at that time of night. That’s when the little man turned up. The night was rather bright and that’s how I managed to see him, but it happened very quickly…”

Another eyewitness account is that of Julio Cesar Masei, a 14-year-old who on Monday the 28th, the next day, claims having had the following experience.

“It was around 16:30 hours and I was crossing the field to reach Calle 90, since I was off to see a friend who lives between 4th and 5th. In the middle of the field there’s a small stream and a sort of embankment. As I walked by, I heard laughter and noise, and decided to get closer. The embankment is covered by a cina-cina bush, and when I lifted it I saw around 4 or 5 of those little men. When they saw me, they stood up and chased me. I took off at high speed, and tried to leap across the stream but couldn’t do it. In any event, I managed to cross it all covered in mud. The little men remained on the other side. We stared at each other for a while, some 5 minutes. They screeched and growled like cats, threatening me with cina-cina branches. One of them, the loudest, appeared to be rabid.”

Julio’s description of the beings is as follows. “They were midgets standing some meter and a half tall. They were dressed in little green coveralls, but their skin was the same as ours, the same color. They had no ears and were very old, some 70 years old.”

The youth adds: “I threw a brick at one and hit him in the leg. He screamed and hopped around as his fellows looked at him.” Julio ran to join his friends, who mocked him. He then fearfully made the return journey home.

Hours later, at dusk, the young man decided to go back. “I went out looking for them again, with a flashlight. I found them once more in an empty field under a tree. I crept up and had one of them close at hand. I reached out my hand and touched him without feeling anything odd.”

More Eyewitness Reports

Guillermo Insaurralde, 11, decided to go to the site accompanied by several friends after hearing what locals were talking about. “All of us were circling the house when one of them [the little men] ran out from behind a wall. He was green, looked scaly and I even think he had a single eye. It was dark and I shouted for my friends to bring the flashlight over. The thing ran toward the bushes in a zig-zag pattern and vanished. It walked on two legs, was like a midget, and made strange noises like a tired dog.”

Later on, the boy would expand on the details (at the request of journalists) on the creature’s characteristics: “It would have been some 50 centimeters tall with a scaly body, like a fish, seemed frightened and squealed…it looked like the light from the flashlights caused it harm. We almost caught it, but it moved too quickly and got away from us after chasing it nearly two blocks from where we found it…I saw it had a single eye in its forehead. It was black. I didn’t notice any hair on it, had a large head, like a half-flattened egg or pumpkin…”

Beatriz Piñeyro was around 8 at the time. She lived with her parents in the rear of the abandoned house. She told her father that on Monday, she saw the little men on the treetops. The father did not pay attention to his daughter’s statements at the time, and upon approaching the trees, he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

On the Progression of the Events

During the course of the events in Villa Montoro, a number of researchers of unusual phenomena appeared (2), aside from the journalists and chroniclers of the communication media. [These were] extraterrestrial contactees, channelers, people who received messages from the Blessed Virgin and those who claimed to be in telepathic contact with imps and gnomes. Among them was parapsychologist Oscar Avendaño, who claimed having received telepathic messages from these small beings, giving him a message to be conveyed to then-president Raul Alfonsín (3). The parapsychologist claimed to have made contact with a little man named “Clatú” (4), commander of the Astro-Galactica spacecraft: “Alfonsín must not allow work to continue on nuclear energy and thoughts of making a nuclear weapon must be dismissed.” This, allegedly, was part of the message received by Avendaño.

Commissioner Amador Alfredo Villar of the Eight Commisariat of the city acknowledges that many people reported to his precinct to report what they had seen, but made it clear that the corresponding reports were never taken down. In his own words: “We visited the place several times. I’ve been there myself and haven’t found anything yet…we’ll keep investigating and patrolling should anything turn up.”

When consulted about his opinion regarding the witness claims, he said: “I don’t know what they’ve seen. I don’t know. Maybe it’s true. It’s hard to believe, of course, but who knows. People were very restless last night, we went and found a large group of people combing the pastures with flashlights or standing there discussing the subject.”

Some local residents manifested their dismay about the situation, especially the lack of safety at the end of the day. They said that gunshots could be heard in the dark, stones were thrown at the homes nearest the abandoned house. They demanded a greater police presence due to the number of people prowling the area (5).

Part II of htis article will be pubished tomorrow: Wednesday, July 30, 2014.

Visit Scott's website: The Institute of Hispanic Ufology