Carlos de los Santos (Mexican pilot)
A Mexican pilot reported three discs closing on his aircraft near Mexico City, his controls seemingly overridden.
1975 CE · 19.43, -99.13 · status: unexplained
The account
On 3 May 1975, student pilot Carlos Antonio de los Santos Montiel said three metallic objects surrounded his Piper Aztec on approach to Mexico City; he reported his controls and landing gear responded on their own until the objects departed. Air-traffic controllers logged the radio distress. He later described intimidation after going public.
The sceptical view
There is no instrumented proof beyond the pilot's account and radio logs; misperception under stress is possible. It remains an unresolved, single-primary-witness case.
The researched reading
A pilot’s single-witness account of discs taking control. Stress and misperception are the leading explanations, but it was never resolved.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Perception, memory or mind | 30% | Under stress pilots can misread instruments and controls; a student pilot facing an unexpected event may misattribute control responses. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 22% | His distress call was logged by controllers, and he kept to his account despite pressure. |
| Something known, misidentified | 18% | Other aircraft or reflections in the cockpit could look like discs. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 15% | A single witness with a dramatic story; no instrument evidence. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 4% | Turbulence could explain control effects. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 4% | No unusual phenomenon fits clearly. |
| Secret human technology | 4% | No programme fits. |
| Undetermined | 3% | The share the reading had given to fabrication on doubt rather than evidence: the record does not settle it either way. |
Official position: No official conclusion; air-traffic logs record his distress call.