[This story was written and distributed to the internet by noted Puerto Rican UFO investigator Jorge Martin (jmartin@coqui.net) on September 19, 1997. CNI News requested but did not receive an update on this story from Martin prior to press time. The text has been slightly edited for length.]
By Jorge Martin
In the early hours of Wednesday, September 17, 1997, a young man was murdered in a desolate street of La Colectora community, located in Santurce, Puerto Rico. The incident became a media event, as it seemed to be related to an alien situation. A small vial-like jar found at the site in close proximity to the man contained, according to those who handled it, a strange "embryo." Immediately it was described by some as an alien "Grey" or a "Chupacabras" embryo. We report here the facts behind the story, after a preliminary investigation.
On Wednesday morning we received a phone call from Noticentro 4, the news department of WAPA TV, channel 4. They asked us to go to the station and told us an incredible story. According to Maritza Diaz, the young woman who called us, a young military man had been killed, and next to him, inside his car, was found a jar with a strange fetus or embryo that did not look human nor had the looks of any known animal. It seemed to be something alien or extraterrestrial. They wanted an expert opinion on the matter, and wanted us to examine the physical details of the alleged "embryo."
Before our arrival, Channel 4 broadcast a news report on the murder and the finding of the alleged "alien embryo," announcing there would be a complete report on the matter on its 5:00 p.m. news edition.
Even though we did not believe the story, we went to the TV station and once there we were surprised by what we saw in a videotape filmed at the scene of the crime.
According to channel 4 news department director Mr. Enrique [Quique] Cruz and Mr. Miguel Banojian, WAPA TV vice president, the video footage had been filmed by cameraman Alfonso Sanchez at about 5:00 a.m., at the corner of Progresso alley in La Colectora community. The video showed images of the dead man, about 30 years old, slumped in the driver's seat of a 1981 dark blue Honda Prelude car, with license plates ALT 475. The victim had been shot, apparently at close range, and he showed a bullet wound below the clavicle, that seemed to follow a downward path inside the body. The video also showed the arrival of police and Puerto Rico's Forensic Sciences Institute personnel at the site and how these personnel did a preliminary examination of the crime scene and the dead man's body. The body was taken afterwards to the Forensic Sciences Institute by orders of district attorney Lourdes Acevedo.
According to cameraman Alfonso Sanchez, after Puerto Rico Police Homicide detectives Jesus Cruz and Hector Santiago arrived at the site, together with district attorney Lourdes Acevedo, the scene was examined throughly. During a search in the car's back seat, forensic sciences investigators found, in the inside pocket of a green military type suit, a manila envelope containing a small vial-like object, a crystal bottle about 3 to 3 and 1/2 inches long and about an inch wide, filled with a viscous translucent colorless liquid. The strange "embryo" was found in this vial. The finding provoked a lot of amazement and speculation by those at the site.
Immediately, said Sanchez, district attorney Acevedo ordered that the vial with the small figure inside it be taken to the Forensic Sciences Institute facilities for analysis of the organism.
According to Sanchez, the envelope was a yellow colored one and had printed lettering that identified it as belonging to a lab. Also, the envelope had the words "Base de Ceiba" [Ceiba Base] in handwriting, which undoubtedly referred to Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, the only one in the area.
Sanchez stated the dead man was wearing green military pants and socks, a cream-beige colored shirt and brown non-military shoes. Also, according to Sanchez, a suit of the same green military color had been found in the back seat, in which the envelope with the vial was found. A small slim wallet, of the type that holds badges and IDs, was found close to the man's body, but no IDs or driver's license was found in it, only a key.
According to Sanchez, initial reports of the incident indicated the Puerto Rico Police knew about this incident after being informed that a dark 4x4 vehicle was chasing the car and a shot had been heard at the site, after which the Honda crashed against two wrecked cars at the edge of the road. Allegedly, arriving at the scene, some policemen observed, at a distance, the dark colored 4x4 vehicle and a man standing next to the Honda's driver door. The 4x4 vehicle fled as the police patrol car approached the site.
The victim's name was later confirmed as Fred Acevedo Martinez. He lived in Villas de Rio Grande, Rio Grande Puerto Rico, and allegedly was in the U.S. military service [branch unknown].
News reporter Pedro Rosa Nales, who was investigating the incident and the alleged finding of the strange "alien embryo" for channel 4, told us:
"After watching the video and talking with authorities, after finding the man's body and the envelope which contained the jar with the strange fetus... there's data that tends to indicate there's something strange involved with this case. Analyzing the details of this video, we can see that the physical characteristics [of the "embryo"] are similar to the ones given to us by many witnesses who claim having had encounters with alien or chupacabras-like creatures. The shape of the head, of the eyes, three fingers on its hands, four toes on its feet... the body's morphology evidently does not seem like something human. It could be a malformed embryo or fetus... but the fact is that it makes you think that it is something really strange."
After this, I was asked to give an opinion on the image of the alleged "alien embryo." It had anomalous physical characteristics such as a big pear-shaped head with a thin jaw; big black almond shaped eyes that tapered to the sides of the head, which were open, without any apparent eyelids; no auditory canals, almost no nostrils, two very small apparent fangs protruding from its mouth; arms with small three fingered hands.
I stated (this was taped in video) that it was very difficult for us to express a responsible opinion based only on a video image.
"If we want to make a good analysis," I said, "on which to base a serious opinion, we need the actual specimen for a through examination. Anything I say here would be biased by the fact that we don't have the actual physical evidence before us. Therefore, as I did not see the real figure or fetus, I can only say that if this image in the video we are watching is real, I repeat, should it be real -- and we don't have any proof at this moment -- the physical details of the body in the image are somewhat compatible with those of a chupacabras type creature, especially its head and eyes. The rest of the body seems compatible with that of a so-called Grey alien humanoid creature. Obviously, all this has to be investigated thoroughly, with a lot more of scientific data, before we can say anything for sure about this."
Doctor Carlos Soto, a veterinarian, was asked separately to give his opinion on what type of animal, if any, the image in the video belonged to. Soto expressed concerns similar to ours, in the sense that it was difficult to give an expert opinion based solely on a video image, and stated that if the apparent organism shown in the video was real, it was not similar to any fetus or embryo of a human being or any animal species known to him.
He brought to the TV station a jar containing a dog's preserved dead fetus and made a comparison between the image in the video and the dog's fetus, clearly showing the difference between the two, stating that if the image in the video belonged to a real specimen and was not a hoax of some type, then we were dealing with something very, very strange. He also emphasized that in order to give a real scientific opinion based on facts, he needed to do an actual examination and analysis on the small alleged "embryo" itself. Otherwise, his opinion should only be considered as non-official and solely as a preliminary comment based on what he saw in the video. He stated the results of the analysis being made at the Forensic Sciences Institute were essential in order to give an expert opinion on the matter.
In the meantime, a lid of silence had been placed on the matter in the Forensics Sciences Institute. Channel 4 kept calling and visiting the premises of the Institute, asking to see Dr. Weissman, in charge of the analysis of the "embryo," but their response was always the same: "We are investigating the matter. Dr. Weissman can't respond now. We are doing chemical analysis on the specimen."
We were informed by Mr. Enrique Cruz and Mr. Banojian that another physician phoned right from the news department to a close friend who has a high level position in the Forensic Sciences Institute, asking him to confide whatever he knew about the alleged "embryo." His friend told him it was for real, and that he could say they knew that the "thing" was neither human nor any type of animal species known to human science. He was told high level officers of the Institute were dealing with the evidence. At the moment, Mr. Cruz was very impressed, apparently convinced that something very strange and important was occurring.
Needless to say, as the media got hold of the news, the finding of the "alien embryo" became the story of the day. Everyone wanted to know about the event, and conspiracy stories began running around about the man having being killed by dark forces in the government after [possibly] taking such evidence from a classified government facility. Another theory was that there could be two factions of the government struggling for control over the UFO/alien situation, and that maybe he was transporting the "specimen" to Roosevelt Roads Naval Station when he was killed. This was pure speculation.
At about 4:00 p.m., things started to change. Suddenly the murdered man, Fred Acevedo Martinez, according to the police, was not in the military, and his clothing, they said, was not military either. He was, they said, employed at El Conquistador Hotel and Resort in Fajardo, and had come a year ago from Louisiana, where he lived previously. At the same time, it was reported he was self-employed in Fajardo; or that he was a photocopy machine repair technician. Also, he did not live in Rio Grande, but in a condominium in Luquillo. Obviously, the scenario was becoming confused.
Right before their 5:00 p.m. news, Channel 4 called Forensic Sciences Institute, and again, the Institute's representatives said they were "...examining and analyzing the evidence and doing chemical analysis to the organism, to see what they were dealing with."
During the first part of the news program, channel 4 reported the data on the situation. Even police Superintendent Pedro Toledo was asked about the finding, and he claimed to know nothing about the matter, but said that whatever was in the jar looked remarkably similar to what people had been describing as the Chupacabras.
But all of a sudden, news director and anchorman Enrique Cruz and co-host Ada Torres Toro stated they had been receiving calls from people saying that the small corpse or "embryo" was only a [plastic] souvenir. From then on, the report became a joke. They said everyone involved with the finding of the "alien embryo" had been fooled, because it was only a toy, a keychain connected to a small plastic "alien" figurine inside a crystalline jar. Together with another member of the news department, Maritza Diaz, who allegedly bought several of the keychains (or amulets, as they also called them) in a shopping center, they ridiculed everything and everyone involved with the investigation of the "embryo." Even their own reporters were ridiculed in a disgusting manner.
But none of the keychains shown on TV were similar to the [thing] taped in the video, the one still under examination and analysis by Forensic Sciences Institute personnel.
Strangely enough, in its 10:00 p.m. report, channel 4 said that even with the "keychain factor," the Forensic Sciences Institute still said they were investigating the matter and doing chemical analysis to the specimen.
If the "alien embryo" specimen was a plastic toy, why was the Forensics Institute still doing chemical analysis and other tests to it? Are we to believe that the Police officials, the Forensic investigators, the homicide detectives, district attorney Lourdes Acevedo and the pathologists at the Forensic Sciences Institute can't differentiate between a plastic toy and a flesh and bone biological organism? I doubt this is the case.
Investigating further, we interviewed police Sergeant Modesto Gonzalez of Police Precinct 266 in Santurce, the police station that originally dealt with the murder of Fred Acevedo MartÌnez. Gonzalez explained he was at the scene and saw when the vial was found, and to him the one he saw had nothing to do with the ones shown in TV.
"You could see there was something in the vial that looked like a fetus of something not natural, not human," he said. "It was confiscated, together with all the other evidence, and sent to Forensic Sciences Institute with the victim, still identified as John Doe... That thing was like a small jar, sealed. It did not look like a keychain. It was the first time I saw anything like that."
Homicide detective Jesus Perez, one of the detectives in charge of the investigation of the murder case, stated during an interview with us that to him, the small body inside the jar he saw at the murder site looked as if composed of flesh or organic tissue. But his partner, detective Hector Santiago, thinks it was a toy.
As of Friday, September 19, a Forensic Sciences Institute representative said they were still investigating the matter and doing chemical analysis to the unknown organism.
Again, how can this be? Was it a toy or not? Are we facing a cover-up of something really important pertaining to the small body in the vial?
On Thursday night we met, on a confidential basis and thanks to a common friend, with a person who works in the Puerto Rico Forensics Sciences Institute, who told us that the alleged "strange embryo" was real.
"This is not a laughing matter," he said. "There are federal officers involved with this. As soon as the specimen was brought to the Institute by the forensics agents, it was taken, by orders of Dr. Weissman, to a sterile room, which is used when there is some concern about the possibility of bacterial, viral or any other type of contamination.
"The specimen was taken out of the glass cylinder and both the cylinder and the small body were placed on top of metal trays there, over some gauze pads, to begin the examination and the analysis of the samples.
"Dr. Weissman was in charge, but all of a sudden an American pathologist -- we don't know who he was -- came and joined him during the examination. The two of them were left alone in the sterile room.
"Two federal agents, dressed in fine suits, who had escorted the American specialist, kept guard outside the door of the sterile room, preventing anyone from going in. The sterile room was declared off limits to the Institute's personnel, and orders were issued that no one could talk about the work being done in the Institute pertaining to the examination of the small specimen."
He added: "I can assure you this is for real. We saw the small body that was in the jar, and it was different from the ones shown on TV. It was not a keychain. It was not a toy. It was some type of organism... I don't know what it was. It looked like a small fetus, but if it was a fetus, it did not look like anything I had seen before... What I saw was made out of flesh, tissue ...and what seemed like blood. It had very pale skin. It looked like a small fetus or embryo... but it was really weird. It was an ugly little thing."
We showed this source one of the keychain aliens from channel 4, and he was adamant in his opinion that what he saw was different, and the jar was a little bigger, about three inches long and one inch wide [the keychain glass jars were about two inches long and about 1/2 wide, with a chain attached on top of its sealed cap].
He said he was surprised the federal authorities hadn't taken away the organism yet, whatever it was. He also couldn't understand why the spokesmen of the Institute kept telling the media they were still investigating and doing chemical analysis to the sample.
"If the authorities want to cover this up -- as it has already been said that it was a plastic toy -- why are they doing this? I can't understand it," he said finally.
[Jorge Martin is continuing to work on this case, attempting to verify disclosures from sources inside the Puerto Rico Forensic Sciences Institute, and following other leads. CNI News will report new developments as they become available.]
Original file name: CNI - Alien.PR Fetus.final
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