Manises

Event Summary

The Manises UFO Incident on November 11, 1979, is one of the most famous and well-documented UFO sightings in Spain. The incident involved a commercial flight operated by Transportes Aéreos Españoles (TAE), specifically Flight JK-297. The flight was en route from Salzburg, Austria, to Las Palmas, Spain, with a stopover in Palma de Mallorca. The aircraft was a Supercaravelle jet carrying 109 passengers. The events that unfolded during this flight led to one of the first emergency landings caused by an encounter with unidentified flying objects.

Initial Sighting
The incident began as the aircraft was cruising over the Iberian Peninsula. Captain Francisco Javier Lerdo de Tejada, the experienced pilot in command, noticed a series of red lights approaching the plane at high speed. These lights appeared to be on a collision course with the aircraft, creating an immediate sense of urgency. Despite the captain’s attempts to contact ground control and military radar, he received no information about any other aircraft in the vicinity.

Evasive Maneuvers
To avoid a potential mid-air collision, Captain Lerdo de Tejada decided to take evasive action. He changed the aircraft's altitude, descending from 29,000 feet to 25,000 feet. However, the red lights mirrored the plane's maneuvers, maintaining a constant distance of about half a kilometer. The persistence and precision of these lights in following the aircraft heightened the tension among the flight crew.

Emergency Landing Decision
Given the unexplained behavior of the lights and the potential threat to the safety of the passengers and crew, Captain Lerdo de Tejada made the decision to divert the flight and execute an emergency landing at Manises Airport in Valencia. As the aircraft approached the airport for landing, the mysterious lights finally disappeared. The decision to land was made in the interest of passenger safety, marking the first recorded instance of a commercial airliner making an emergency landing due to a UFO encounter.

Spanish Air Force Response
Following the emergency landing, the Spanish Air Force was alerted to investigate the unidentified objects. A Dassault Mirage F1 fighter jet, piloted by Captain Fernando Cámara, was scrambled from Los Llanos Air Base to intercept and identify the mysterious lights. Captain Cámara encountered significant challenges in his mission. He achieved speeds of Mach 1.4 in an attempt to close the distance, but the objects continued to elude him.

Visual and Radar Confirmation
During his pursuit, Captain Cámara obtained a visual sighting of one of the objects. He described it as a truncated cone-shaped craft with a bright, pulsating light that changed colors. The object demonstrated advanced maneuverability, rapidly accelerating and decelerating, and eventually disappearing from sight. In addition to the visual confirmation, radar operators at Manises Airport and military radar installations detected multiple radar echoes that coincided with the position and movements of the unidentified objects.

Multiple UFOs Detected
As the Mirage F1 pursued the initial object, three additional UFOs were detected by radar. Each of these objects was estimated to be around 200 meters in diameter, significantly larger than the typical size of conventional aircraft. One of these objects was reported to have passed very close to the runway at Manises Airport, prompting the ground crew to activate the emergency runway lights. Despite the close proximity, there was no communication or response from the objects.

Witness Accounts
The Manises UFO Incident garnered multiple witness accounts, including those of the flight crew, passengers, ground personnel at Manises Airport, and Captain Cámara. Their testimonies provided consistent descriptions of the red lights and their unusual behavior. The credibility of these witnesses, many of whom were experienced aviation professionals, added weight to the incident’s significance.

Aftermath and Impact
The incident had a significant impact on aviation and military procedures in Spain. It prompted the Spanish Ministry of Defense to conduct a thorough investigation into the events. The official report concluded that the objects encountered by Flight JK-297 and the Mirage F1 were of unknown origin and exhibited flight characteristics beyond the capabilities of known aircraft.

Public and Media Attention
The Manises UFO Incident captured the public’s imagination and received extensive media coverage. The case was featured in numerous documentaries, articles, and books on UFO phenomena. It became one of the cornerstone cases in UFO research, not just in Spain but globally.

Theories and Speculations
Various theories have been proposed to explain the Manises UFO Incident. Some skeptics suggested that the lights could have been due to atmospheric phenomena or misidentified military aircraft. However, these explanations were deemed insufficient given the coordinated movements of the objects, their persistence in following the commercial flight, and the sophisticated maneuvers observed by the military pilot.

Event Details