Pampa Lluscuma entity encounter — April 25, 1977

An eight-man Chilean Army patrol led by Corporal Armando Valdés reported unusual lights at Pampa Lluscuma near Putre before dawn on April 25,1977. The men were guarding horses when two bright lights appeared low over the plateau. Reported distances vary from roughly five hundred to eight hundred metres, and the time is variously given as 3:40 or 3:50 a.m. Valdés ordered the campfire extinguished. The famous version says Valdés moved away from the group, disappeared for about fifteen minutes and returned disoriented. Later retellings added an unusually grown beard and a watch showing several days’ discrepancy. The supplied NICAP entry describes an altered demeanour and repeated questions about his mother. No visually observed alien occupants are described in that entry, and the lights’ physical structure was not established. Valdés later disputed the abduction interpretation. At a public event reported in February 2013, he said he had remained nearby watching his men and that jumping a stone wall contributed to their impression of his sudden reappearance. This does not erase the patrol’s light report, but it directly qualifies the asserted abduction. The Atlas preserves the conflicting versions without presenting watch, beard or missing-time claims as measured proof. The plate shows the patrol and distant lights.