On October 12, 1963, just before dawn it was raining hard between the villages of Monte Maiz and Isla Verde in Argentina. Douglas was driving his truck with a load of coal when a bright light like headlights bore down on him. The light became so bright, he had to pull off the road and stop. Getting out of his truck, the light had stopped and through the rain he could see a metallic craft about thirty-five feet high. An opening appeared with three figures in it, twelve feet tall with headdresses that seemed to have antennae. A red beam of light flashed to where he stood and burned him. Grabbing his revolver, he fired three shots and ran towards Monte Maiz. The red light followed him to the village, and the streetlights turned violet and green and there was a strange pungent odor as Douglas ran through the town. Jacques Vallee describes the scene:
Douglas ran to the first house and shouted for help. Ribas, the owner, had died the previous night, but his family, gathered around the body, reported that at the same time they heard Douglas’s call the candles in the room and the electric lights in the house turned green and the strange smell was noticed. They rushed to open the door: there was Douglas in the pouring rain, his overcoat over his head and a gun in his hand. The street lights had changed color. It must have been one of the most fantastic scenes in the rich archives of ufology.
(Magonia, 112)
The police received several reports about the street lights changing color. The burns on Douglas’ face and hands were clearly visible when he was taken to the police station — an examining doctor felt the burns had been caused by an ultraviolet type of radiation. Returning to where the truck was parked, villagers noted several very large footprints nearly twenty inches long each, which were soon washed away by the rain.
In spite of the physical evidence, the witnesses, and its simple beauty and drama, this incident was never seriously investigated by scientific or civilian UFO researchers — it was considered too weird.