Mexican Air Force FLIR video, Campeche
A Mexican Air Force anti-drug patrol filmed eleven unidentified heat sources over Campeche on infrared, and the Defence Ministry released the tape.
2004 CE · 18.50, -90.50 · status: disputed
The account
On 5 March 2004 a Mexican Air Force surveillance aircraft hunting drug flights recorded bright moving infrared sources at about 3,500 m over southern Campeche; reports said three of them also showed on the plane's radar. Defence Secretary Gen. Ricardo Vega García said the military had not identified them and handed the tape to ufologist Jaime Maussan, who called it proof of alien visitation.
The sceptical view
Experts suggested the infrared sources were gas burn-off flares on offshore oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico's main oil region; skeptic Michael Shermer also noted that witness accounts grew with each retelling.
The researched reading
Military infrared that looks spectacular but lines up with a field of oil-platform flares. A good example of how infrared sees what the eye cannot.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Something known, misidentified | 50% | Researchers matched the bearing of the eleven infrared sources to the gas flares of the Cantarell oil complex in the Gulf, beyond the horizon for the eye but bright to an IR camera; the apparent motion came from the aircraft’s own movement. |
| Undetermined | 22% | The share a generic explanation had beyond what has been shown for this case: it fits many cases like this one, but has not been demonstrated for this one. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 10% | The radar returns were not fully reconciled with the flares, leaving a small open share. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 5% | Michael Shermer noted that the crew’s accounts grew with each retelling. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 4% | The separate radar contacts could be clutter or atmospheric returns, which are common over warm sea. |
| Secret human technology | 4% | Drug flights or other aircraft without transponders were possible in the area, but do not match eleven fixed heat sources. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 3% | No unusual natural source is suggested. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 2% | The tape was released by the Defence Ministry itself. |
Official position: Mexico’s Defence Ministry released the tape without explanation; independent analysts identified the sources as oil-well flares.
Connections in the atlas
- Aguadilla (CBP)
- 1991 eclipse UFO videos, Mexico City
- Chilean Navy helicopter infrared video
- USS Nimitz 'Tic Tac'