In 2011 I posted about A "UFO" spotted by Sarmiento de Gamboa in 1580 in the Strait of Magellan. I discarded the sighting as an Unidentified Flying Object (now called UAP, or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena), and suggested a lunar eclipse, or even the moon obscured by volcanic ashes. Today I will look into other UAPs reported by FitzRoy during his voyages along Chile's Patagonian coast (1829-1835), and provide some additional information to his comments.
FitzRoy wrote the following (Source - see p.295):
"Extraordinary meteoric appearances have occasionally been noticed about Chilóe, and the islands southward of it. In describing the Carelmapu earthquake, of 1633, Ag&uuuml;eros says that torrents of rain followed; and that on a high hill near the town was seen a globe of fire, which rose for a short interval, and then fell into the sea: the waters of which were in consequence much disturbed. A violent tempest ensued, with hail larger than musket-balls.
Another remarkable earthquake happened thereabouts on the 23d—24th of December, 1737: and on the 30th, in the early part of the evening, a great exhalation or cloud of fire was seen passing, from north to south, over all the archipelago. It fell on the Huayteca islands, covered them with ashes, and burned up the vegetation to such a degree that it was only in 1750, that the islands began again to look green.—Agüeros, pp. 102, 104, 105."
I found the source mentioned by FitzRoy (Online), Descripción Historial de la Provincia y Archipielago de Chiloe, en el Reino de Chile, y Obispado de la Concepción (1791) by Pedro González de Agüeros. He wrote the followign about the 1633 earthquake and the "lights" that followed it:
"In the year 1633, on May 14, at dawn, they heard in the town of Carelmapu a vehement and terrifying noise that resounded throughout all the houses and fortress; but with such astonishment on the part of the people that they were forced to leave without delay, and with all haste from their beds, because it seemed to them that the houses were falling upon them, as in fact they soon saw them on the ground. They ran astonished to the Church, but they found it already ruined, without finding anything but piles of planks and timbers. The stones from the beach were out of their center, and piled up next to the ruins of the Town, and two boats, which were anchored in that Port, were also broken into pieces. A heavy downpour followed this, and those people, having nowhere to take shelter or defend themselves from it, did nothing but cry out to God for mercy. Afterwards, somewhat calmed, and eagerly desiring to see and worship the Image of the Most Holy Mary, which that Church had as its patron saint, and the entire town as its Patroness since the first settlers brought it there from Osorno, they cleared a path, removing wood, and clearing away all other obstacles until they managed to reach the site of the main chapel, and there they found the Divine Lady between some sticks, with the Child Jesus in her arms, but without any injury. They all attributed this wonder to the infinite power of our God and Lord, who arranged for that Divine Image to remain intact for the consolation of so many in affliction, and because they also found another image of Christ crucified that they venerated in that Church. They continued cleaning that sacred place; but they were astonished when they found the bones of the deceased, and a corpse that was not yet completely corrupted. They reflected on this, and realized that the cause was that the violence of the earthquake, since it had not been able to break the wooden posts that held the Church up, because they went into the ground about a yard and a half, tore them out entirely, and as if they were levers, they raised the tombs, removing the bodies. After these fatal events had passed, they wanted to find out where, or how this failure had come about; but while they were examining all the places in the town in case they could find any other effects to determine the cause, they were overcome by something even worse, because they saw on a hill or high mountain near the town, a globe of fire that seemed to threaten the final disaster. It rose and then fell into the sea, immediately disturbing its waters. Then came a furious storm, accompanied by astonishing darkness, and breaking the sky with hail, they found stones thicker than musket balls. Finally, those people were already believing that the last hour of their lives had arrived for them, and therefore, crying out incessantly to God, they hoped for moments to pass into eternity."
This globe of fire is surely an Earthquake Light.
Agüeros adds another similar incident that took place after the 1737 earthquake: "the year 1737, on the 23rd and 24th of December, and also that on the 30th they saw in the middle of the afternoon a great exhalation or cloud of fire, which coming from the North, passed through the entire Archipelago, filling all its inhabitants with terror; and having come to fall on the Islands of Cuaitecas, and on that coast, they noticed later that it had set fire to those mountains there (1).
(1) This is also evident from the Note found on the Map that the Count of Super-Unda sent to the King in the year 1752, when he was Viceroy of Peru, where he says: the Islands of the Archipelago that are washed with red, are those that in the year 1737 were burned with fire rained down from Heaven, which terrified the entire Province, which Islands remain covered in ashes; and in the year 1750 it was recognized that some were beginning to reproduce some grass."
There was an earthquake on those days, but Agüeros mentions fire raining from heaven and ashes (?). Another source confirms the quake which had a 7.5 magnitude, Vicente Carvallo y Goyeneche (vol ix, p. 264 in Descripción histórico-geográfica del reino de Chile, en Colección de historiadores de Chile y documentos relativos a la historia nacional
"The town of Valdivia was devastated the previous year by a formidable earthquake, with three shocks (December 24, 1737), so close together that their interruptions were almost imperceptible, and lasting nearly fifteen minutes, with such violent undulations that people could not stand firm, and the ground opened up in many places..."
Could it have been a meteor strike, one that exploded as it entered the atmosphere and left no crater? Probably, but since the Osorno volcano south of Valdivia erupted at the time of the earthquake (Source) it was likely that the ashes were volcanic, and blanketed the islands further south. This quake-eruption, was similar to the one of 1960 (Valdivia earthquake, Puyehue eruption).
A final aerial phenomena associated to an earthquake was reported by Joaquín de Echeverría and José Antonio Rodríguez, in Santiago, Chile, in November 1822. (Source). This quake was also centered in Valdivia and had a magnitude of 8.5.
"On Tuesday the 19th at 10:50 a.m., stronger concussions of short duration were sometimes repeated. The next day, the 20th at 3:08 a.m., there was a tremor without any noticeable noise, but little commotion. At 3:42 a.m., a meteor traveled in the same direction as the earthquake, that is, northeast to southwest, in the form of a large fiery trail, which produced a brightness equal to that of an already clear twilight for four seconds. Several other minor meteors reportedly appeared toward the mountain range. At 5:24 a.m., another tremor of little commotion, but preceded by considerable noise. These have happened very often."
Earthquake Lights
There is a paper explaining how these lights form Robert Thériault; France St‐Laurent; Friedemann T. Freund; John S. Derr, (2014). Prevalence of Earthquake Lights Associated with Rift Environments. Seismological Research Letters (2014) 85 (1): 159–178. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220130059).
One explanation was that rocks containing quartz, when placed under stress generate electric potential, another suggeste that the stress caused by tectonic plates colliding distorted Earth's magnetic field, and these electromagnetic incidents produced light. But the 2014 paper are caused by stress releasing electric charges held by certain types of rocks.
Rocks like basalts and gabbros which may have defects in their crystaline structure, when they are subjected to high pressures, they release electrons. Some basaltic rocks in the form of dykes (solidified lava that reaches deep into the crust, conduct these charges, funneling them towards the atmosphere where they discharge in the air and form a colorful plasma. Apparently these events are rare, occurring in roughly 1 out of every 200 earthquakes. The lights can appear before, during, and after a quake, and up to 100 miles from the epicenter of the quake (160 km).
Below is a video of a January 2025 earthquake in Taiwan, with earthquake lights.
Strange lights are reported often in Patagonia (see this one, from 2021, with a photograph and this one from 2020), the area is subjected to considerable tectonic stress which could explain these lights.
Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025by Austin Whittall ©
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