Tocopilla, Chile: Police officers see large object with windows, one shoots at it
On the night of 23–24 September 1971 residents of Tocopilla, Chile, saw a stationary light over the Pacific; after truck drivers reported a hovering object, three police officers saw it at close range and one shot at it, and a fishing captain later saw a similar object sink into the sea.
Background
At night many residents of Tocopilla, Chile, saw a stationary light over the Pacific Ocean that through binoculars seemed to have multiple round windows and intermittent lights. At 1:30 a.m. two truck drivers travelling from Antofagasta spotted a bright object hovering above the coast and reported it to a police station; three officers went to the area and saw an object about 65 feet in diameter with a helicopter-like cabin and apparent windows, hovering about 100 feet above sea level. When one officer shot at it, it moved rapidly toward them, passed over the police van and continued toward the mountains, where it hovered and occasionally threw a beam of light over the area. At 6:10 a.m. Manuel Malatesta, captain of the fishing vessel Martin Pescador, saw a similar object farther north about 20 miles offshore; it moved above the ship several times before sinking into the sea about 3 miles away. Eberhart cites Las Últimas Noticias of 25 September 1971, the APRO Bulletin (March 1972), Huneeus and Dolan. The account follows the entry in George M. Eberhart's chronology UFOs and Intelligence (CUFOS) and the sources cited there; it is not an independent determination by From Beyond Space.