Germán Puerta Restrepo

Biography

Economist from the University of the Andes and an expert amateur astronomer, a Colombian science communicator. He was scientific director of the Bogotá Planetarium for years, creator of the Villa de Leyva Astronomy Festival and author of sky maps and numerous astronomy books (among them 'Marte' and 'Los animales del cielo'); he received the Latin American RedPop award. On the UFO phenomenon he represents the skeptical, scientific counterweight of Colombian casework: he recalls that the vast majority of sightings have conventional explanations —aircraft, drones, satellites, the Space Station, optical phenomena— and that astronomy is the first filter to separate real anomaly from confusion.