Person
Ariel Sánchez Ríos
Also known as Ariel Sánchez, Col. Sánchez
- Colonel (navigator), Uruguayan Air Force (ret.); president of CRIDOVNI
Ariel Sánchez Ríos is a retired colonel (navigator) of the Uruguayan Air Force and a long-serving member of CRIDOVNI, the Air Force's commission for reports of unidentified flying objects. A member of the commission described him in 2010 as its leader, and he signed its 2023 communiqués as president.
At the 2013 Citizen Hearing on Disclosure in Washington he described the commission's history and method, and said about 3% of its cases had non-conventional characteristics. He also described a 1993 case of luminous spheres that left traces in the soil. These are his own accounts; the commission has not published its case files.
The commission's published conclusions under his presidency were conventional ones, such as identifying the Paysandú lights of February 2023 as Starlink satellites.
Sources: Fuerza Aérea Uruguaya, communiqué 4/2023 · Montevideo Portal (2010) · Citizen Hearing on Disclosure (2013)
Facts and claims
- documented Sánchez, a retired Uruguayan colonel, testified at the 2013 Citizen Hearing on Disclosure as a former technical director of the Uruguayan Air Force's UFO commission, CRIDOVNI. Source: Citizen Hearing 2013: South American Encounters, Part 1 at 30:45
- claimed He told the hearing that the commission had about 1,300 cases over some 30 years, with “3% of cases that have non-conventional characteristics”. — Ariel Sánchez Ríos Source: Citizen Hearing 2013: South American Encounters, Part 1 at 32:02
- claimed Asked what scientific information his commission sought, he said that in 1993 two luminous spheres of 30 to 40 centimetres hovered over a field in the interior of Uruguay and left prints, where laboratory tests of the soil found a reduction in phosphorus and zinc. — Ariel Sánchez Ríos Source: Citizen Hearing 2013: South American Encounters, Part 2 at 1:27:46
- documented As president of CRIDOVNI he signed its communiqué of May 2023 concluding that lights seen over Paysandú on 11 February 2023 were Starlink satellites. Source: fau.mil.uy (archived)
Connected files
Organizations
- CRIDOVNI (Uruguayan Air Force) (led) — Signed CRIDOVNI's communiqué 4/2023 as "Presidente de la CRIDOVNI"
Hearings & briefings
- Citizen Hearing on Disclosure (testified at)
Videos
- Citizen Hearing 2013: South American Encounters, Part 1 (appears in)
- Citizen Hearing 2013: South American Encounters, Part 2 (appears in)