Case file · Sighting

'Ovni de las Lomas' video, Mexico City

A home video dated 6 August 1997 appeared to show a wobbling metallic disc gliding between buildings in the Lomas Verdes area; it became one of the most broadcast UFO clips of the 1990s Mexican wave.

1997 CE · 19.50, -99.25 · status: disputed

The account

The tape reached TV journalist Jaime Maussan anonymously. Defenders pointed to the object's matching shadow and motion blur; sceptical analysts found parallax errors and argued it was an early computer animation. Around 2015 Mexican bloggers claimed the animator had been identified.

The sceptical view

The source was never identified on the record and no second witness or tape exists. Most independent analysts consider it a digital composite.

The researched reading

An anonymous video of a disc between buildings that independent analysts consider digital animation. Almost certainly a hoax.

ExplanationWeightWhy
Undetermined70%The share the reading had given to fabrication on doubt rather than evidence: the record does not settle it either way.
A hoax or fabrication15%The tape arrived anonymously and no second witness or copy exists. Analysts found parallax and tracking errors typical of a digital composite, and later bloggers claimed to identify the animator.
Something known, misidentified5%A balloon or model would not show the claimed motion, but cannot be excluded entirely.
Genuinely anomalous5%Defenders cite consistent shadow and motion blur. Without the source or an original tape, it cannot be tested.
Secret human technology2%Not plausible over a city in daylight.
A known natural phenomenon1%Not applicable.
A poorly understood natural phenomenon1%Not applicable.
Perception, memory or mind1%A recording, not a perception.

Official position: No official investigation.

Connections in the atlas

Sources

  1. Metabunk: Mexico City UFO footage, CGI in 1997?
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