Search This Blog

Sunday, September 19, 2021

Martian Shrub of Peru

 The Martian Shrub of Peru

By Cole Herrold



When people think of extraterrestrials, the first thought that comes to mind is of small gray or green beings with large almond shape black eyes, yet if history has shown us anything, this is not to be the case. The world of extraterrestrial encounters has some downright bizarre entities, but almost all of them have a symmetrical or human-like form. Whether it's the Flatwoods Monster, Space Penguins of Tuscumbia, or the La Rubia Abductors, these entities, while mostly different compared to the organisms we know, do share some features with us or animals that make them seem less alien. It's from these accounts even the most seasoned Ufologist is familiar with reports of machine-like or animal-like extraterrestrials, yet sometimes the entities reported do not follow those categories and seem to resemble something that is around us all the time. The Martian Shrub of Peru is an extremely short case but compelling nonetheless, perhaps most notably as the entity described in the encounter bears none of the earmarks of the classic UFO driver but instead seems to be some form of a sentient plant.

It was in August or September of 1965 when Julio L. de Romana and Antonio Chavez Bedoya were driving along the Pan-American motorway. The pair was almost 12.5 miles from Arequipa when they noticed a strange figure standing in the road. The car continued to truck down the road as they expected this figure to eventually move or scurry across the road, but as they came closer, they realized that this dark form was still standing perfectly still. The two realizing that if they did not alter their course, they were going to strike whatever this creature was, promptly swerved off the road. As they looked over at the strange form blocking the road, they at first thought it to be some sort of litter or some plant that managed to get knocked into the road. Yet as they continued to stare, they realized this clearly was not the case.

There standing in the road was a dark entity black in color and a little over 2 ½ feet tall. The witnesses could only describe it as "a strange being, a Martian" the entity appeared to be alive, but at that moment refused to move its body, gave the witnesses the impression that it was some sort of plant life as to them it looked like a shrub. Whether there were branches or leaves is unknown, but the creature's overall plant-ness was not its most startling feature. There towards where the witnesses felt the head should be, was a bright golden eye that appeared to be gilded this eye was large, but it was not alone as all along the body were several smaller golden eyes that were skittered around in the assumed branches. These eyes seemed to glint in the sunlight as well and were joined on several of the branches or body segments by long metallic objects like strips of gold and silver.

As the pair was reeling in this bizarre entity that sounds suspiciously like a sentient Christmas Tree was shocked to see a UFO fly above their car and the vegetative visitor. What happened after this is not known except for assumedly the duo had put the pedal to the metal and drove out of this area of high strangeness. While the UFOs' direction went unreported other individuals in the area would later go on to report seeing a strange craft in the sky.

 As for the Martian Shrub, there have been no reports of anything remotely similar to it in the annals of Ufology. UFO creatures that bear a strong resemblance to plants have been collected; the Walking Stumps, for example, were three spider-like entities of varying colors and patterns that, to the witnesses, seemed to be like crawling tree stumps. While these entities did not exactly have the appearance of something of the flora persuasion, another entity known as the Vegetable Man had features that clearly seemed to be of a kind of sentient plant humanoid. This entity had long ears that appeared leaf-like and had long fingers which were tipped with suction cup-like appendages that ended in long syringe-type fingers. The entity's body was often described as something like a stalk or a carrot and communicated to the witness as well as draining blood. While this entity clearly was plant-like, the UFO connection to it is speculative as there was no craft seen but a strange whirring phonograph sound which was believed to of been the craft taking off. So, with that said, there are still no plant-extraterrestrial cases making this one incredibly unique.

Now, much like in other cases I've written about with assumed Extraterrestrials, there is always the chance that the creature seen has nothing to do with the UFO phenomenon. In this case, the strange shrub was seen standing in the middle of the roadway before the UFO was in the area, and when the UFO came to the area, apparently it did not stop and pick up its occupant as if this was to be the case it would have been reported. So perhaps this creature is some bizarre plant that has gone undiscovered and just happened to of been crossing the road at the same time as the UFO was crossing overhead. I will say, given the appearance of the creature and the metallic strips, this seems unlikely and probably isn't the case.

With that said, if we take the extraterrestrial route because this creature seems to have either some sort of technology or even what might pass for clothing on its world, it is particularly bizarre. The tinsel-like strips seem to almost be used only as an ornament as they apparently did not do anything particularly spectacular when the witnesses saw it, so what the actual purpose of it is can truly only be left for speculation. Yet this almost point-blank description only leads into one of the issues with this case.

One of the problems with this case is the vagueness of it. I have found this to be a problem with a lot of the South American and Central American cases as rarely there's a follow-up or finding the newspaper accounts are exceptionally difficult, so all we have to go on is the scant information reused in the Ufological literature. That’s one of the major problems with this case is that it sort of abruptly ends we don’t know if the witnesses did see some sort of landing and the Martian Shrub return to the craft or if the drivers simply could not handle all of the high strangeness and simply drove off it appears that there was just no follow up in this case at all.

Another issue with this case is that each resource that does publish something on it has alternative dates for when the encounter took place. Some sources state August 1, August 29, August 30, and even a month later on September 29, even though the newspapers covering the case were released for the 31st. Perhaps this is a simple error or some issue with translation when the accounts were published in other sources, but it does make it difficult to get a true point on when the encounter took place.

While this encounter is extremely frustrating, it is interesting nonetheless, mainly for the description of the entity seen by the two men. There has been nothing similar to it as far as what has been reported, and I think that is one of the most important elements to the case as there has never been something that appeared as a goth Christmas tree in either the world of cryptozoology, demonology, or Ufology aside from this encounter. If it was the typical Grey, we probably would not be talking about this case today since nothing really happens, but it's the appearance of this entity that steals the show and definitely something we perhaps will never see again.

Initial Sketch of Christmas Tree Variant


Quick Facts:

Species/Potential Species: Vegetable Extraterrestrial

Location: Pan-American Motorway, Near Arequipa, Peru

Sighted: Either August 1, August 29, August 30, September 29, 1965

Works Cited:

The Humanoids By Charles Bowen

Humanoid Encounters: 1965-1969 -The Others Amongst Us By Albert S. Rosales

Cronica, Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 31, 1965

La Prensa, Lima, Peru, August 31, 1965

Gross, Patrick. “August 1965, Near Arequipa, Arequipa, Peru, Julio L. de Romana and Antonio Chavez Bedoya” URECAT July 3, 2008. https://ufologie.patrickgross.org/ce3/1965-08-31-peru-arequipa.htm#jv1. Accessed September 14, 2021. 

No comments:

Post a Comment