Section A · Scientific ufology (Uruguay)
Milton Hourcade
Pioneer of Uruguayan ufology · founder of CIOVI (1958) · science journalist · award-winning author
Biography
Uruguayan science journalist and ufologist, a pioneer of the rigorous study of the phenomenon in his country. In 1958 he founded CIOVI (Center for the Investigation of Unexplained Flying Objects), Uruguay's first private institution to investigate UFO reports with a scientific method, which operated until 2008 while keeping a good relationship with the academic community. Skeptical and rational in approach —seeking conventional explanations before exotic ones—, he was a science and technology journalist and worked for twenty years at Voice of America in Washington. In 2008 he founded UAPSG/GEFAI, which he directs from Iowa. He is the civilian, scientific pole of Uruguayan ufology, contemporary with the official CRIDOVNI commission of the Air Force.
Why they're here · 3 pieces
- 1958
Fundación del CIOVI
Uruguay's first private institution to investigate UFOs with a scientific method (1958–2008)
- 1978
OVNIs: Desafío a la Ciencia
A reference work of scientific ufology in Spanish
- 2008
UAPSG / GEFAI
Founded the unusual aerial phenomena study group he directs from the US
Sources
Associated cases (2)
CRIDOVNI · FAU commission· 1979
On 7 August 1979, the Uruguayan Air Force created CRIDOVNI, an official commission under the Ministry of Defense that investigates reports using military assets —radar, controllers— and classifies them. Active without interruption for over four decades, it is the world's longest-running government UAP commission, with an explicit "non-conventional" case category.
FH-227 PLUNA · light that escorted the plane· 1975
On 25 September 1975, at 7:30 PM, a Uruguayan Air Force FH-227 on PLUNA service was flying from Asunción to Montevideo at 14,000 feet. After overflying Monte Caseros, the pilot saw a very bright yellowish-white light that rose to his altitude and accompanied him at 3–5 miles. When he turned on the landing light, the object approached; when he turned it off, it withdrew —and during that approach a strong smell of burnt cable was felt in the cabin, with no electrical fault found—. The photographs were analyzed by CRIDOVNI. It is one of Uruguay's most cited aviation cases.
Synthesized bio from the UAP disclosure ecosystem — categorized by epistemological section (A-F).