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Jul 12, 2006
NIGHT LIGHTS OF TULUM (A tale of UFOs in Mexico)
On the equinox in Tulum, there is more to see than beach body's, the Mayas know the secrets of the 'Nights Lights of Tulum.' (Info)

I should put this story in a fiction book because some people have a hard time believing me. I would too if not for the fact that its true. The Maya Gods are due to return in the year 2012-13 from a deep space voyage. The Nights Lights, are believed to be patrols in advance of their foretold return. The sands of time are shifting.

People often ask me if I think there are
really UFO's. The truth is I don't 'THINK'
there are UFO's, I 'KNOW' there are UFO's
because I've seen them. My first encounter
came on March 21 1972, and get this, it was
not in the sky but in the ocean at night.
Damn thing, what ever it was, forever mystified
three men in a boat. As for myself, being
one of those three, I have been searching for
the answer to my own questions for over thirty
years now.

The boat belonged to my brother-in-law Juan
Moguel de Mendoza, a born to the bone, salty
as an anchovy, Caribbeano hermano, brother,
mano a mano of the sea. His first mate,Cubano,
was a born aboard, live aboard, seal of the
sea himself. Juan had a contract to transport
chapapote, black tar, to the isalnd of Cozumel
for the new airport being built there. Juan
owned the boat but the Cubano was skipper of
the 52 foot deep hull,ridged to haul chapapote.

March 21 1972
From Playa del Carmen to Cozumel took the
ferry one hour, more or less, depending on
the weather. Cubano, driving Juans boat, took
about half an hour longer, 'Depende de madre
del mar' Cubano would say. (Depends on mother
ocean.) The ferry made just three trips a day
back in '72,6:00 AM, 12:00 noon-and 6:00 PM.
Twicw a day, Cubano would plod along about a half
an hour behind the ferry.

Playa del Carmen-6:00 PM:
The ferry pulled out for Cozumel as I was loading
my cargo of fruits&vegetables onto Juans boat.
Jaun and I were partners in the Bali-Hi restaurant
on the island and it was always a hustle to have
fresh produce. Only 20 sacks of oranges was left
when Cubano offered to finish loading if we would go
to the store and buy him cigarettes. Old Cubano never
left his home aboard, not even in port. (of course
you don't want to leave the boat if you're not in port!)
He had been to sea so long that standing on terra
ferma made him land sick. Life on Cubano's Madre
del Mar had given the old Cuban sea legs, and they
were the only pair he owned, that's a fact.

Playa del Carmen, in 1972, was nothing more
than a bus stop for the ferry to Cozumel, with
a military base to keep smuggling in check.
Keeping smugglers in check is not the easiest
job in the land where so much pirate history was
born, and has yet to die. There were no hotels
in Playa del Carmen back in '72, only three or
four restaurants, and a gas station that was
pumped by hand out of 55 gallon drums. If you
missed the ferry you either sat up all night
in one of the restaruants, or took you're chance
sleeping in you're vehicle. I say took a chance
because of the hummingbird sized mosquitoes.
Roll the windows up you suffocate,roll them
down and the, be-damed,mosquitoes would set up
a landing strip on you're ass then proceed too
draine you're blood and airlift it out until
by morning you wake up to find you're shadows gone.

I picked up a six pack of of beer while Juan
purchased cigarettes for Cubano. We waited as a
man and his wife from Germany, who had just
missed the ferry, were not taking 'No Hotel'
for an answer. In German, broken English, and
the aid of a Spanish dictionry they let the
store owner know that 'No Hotel' would never
happen in Duceland. You must understand this
was 1972 B.C.C. that's, 'Before Can-Cun,' no
hotel meant no hotel back then.If the man would
have been nicer I could have taken them on
Juans boat. Nine.

It was around six forty-five by the time Juan
an I got back to the boat. Cubano took his
time making sure everything was ship shape.
As we cast-off Cubano took charge of his command.
Nothing to do now but sit back and have a cold
beer mixed with small talk about the family,
the tourist, the weather, but most of all just
kibitzing about life on the island of Cozumel.
Like the story going around about the captain of
the one and only Mexican navy ship in the erea.

The Captain was so stinking drunk one day that
he ran his career agrouned on the beach at Playa
del Carmen. Mexicos navy was there for over a
month stuck in the sand so near the beach kids
were swimming out there to play. It kept the
military so busy in one place that the smugglers
were busy elsewhere working overtime in their
window of opportunity. The captain was now under
military arrest in Cozumel for drunk driving at sea.

Juan an I sat amid a ton of orange's in 20
kilo sacks in the stern while Cubano maneuvered
south a couple of miles to Xcaret, owned by the
Delgado family cousins to the Moguels,Mendozas
and anybody that's anybody for miles around.
Xcaret is another ancient Maya seaport used
primarily by Cheiftains of Maya history as
they gathered for their summet meetings on
Cozumel.The caribbean current is better suited
from Xcaret to carry you're boat to Cozumel island.
The Mayas knew this over two thousand years ago,
and if you think that was cleaver how about this,
the Mayas were the first to take their girlfriends
along for an exstended vacation. In season?
But of course. ;)

By the time Cubano put to sea at Xcaret, the sun
was down and night was closing in on us. Tourist
season would soon be over,however at this time of
year there were a lot of foreign tourist around too
witness the equinox on March 21, that very day.
Thousands had crowded the ruins at Chichen-Itza
outside of Merida, Yucatan state, to witness this
twice annual astrological event. We kibitzed about
the lobster season being slow in Punta Allen,south
of Tulum, where our Tio Manuel Mendoza was the
lighthouse keeper, and the keeper of tradition
for those who abide by the sea. (Tio 'Uncle'
in Spanish) There was talk of the riuns in Tulum
being restored. Some professors, accompanied by
students from Penn State/Mexico City, were at the
Tulum ruins now doing some restorations. Dolores,
my wife Juan sister,would be waiting for our return.
Pocho, another Moguel de Mendoza, had just gotten
a loan to buy a new boat and compressor for his new
business of felling dive tanks for the dive shops
and new hotels opening on Cozumel.

Then there was news of Nasin Juaqin, one of the
rickest men in the Caribi. Old Nasin was having
a medical problemo. Nasin went to the doctor about
a nasty, strange, looking rash all over his hands.
After a battary of test's,only Nasin could afford,
it turned out that Nasin is allergic to his money.
Now he has to ware surgical gloves when counting
all those piles of cash. Poor Nasin has a nasty,
strange, looking problemo. If only some would rub
off on me.

Bob Marx was in jail 'again' for suspicion of finding
a treasure just off the beach south of Xcaret near
Xel-Ha. Pablo Bush was trying to make a deal with
Beto,a.k.a. Bob, to take Pablo to the treasure and
all charges would be dropped plus 5%. It seemed that
old Beto Bob, had been jinxed to bad luck ever since
he turned in the Flying Bank Bandit from the States.
This bandito broke out of prison, robbed a bank,
stole a plane, and then just flew off for parts
unknown. The plane was found ditched in the moutains
near VeraCruz, but from there the trail went cold.
In the mean time this yankee,gringo,flying bandito,
bank robber was having a good time on the banks money
in Cozumel. It was party hardy time for the free man
right up too, and until, he decided to go diving with
Beto, Bob Marx.

They had been diving everyday for a week when
Beto descovered his client was packing a gun.
But not just a gun, he had two Colte 45s with
amo an extra clips in his dive bag. There had
been plenty of talk about the flying bandito
so Beto,thinking this might be him, and that
there might be a big 'rewared', made a call
to the US Council in Merida about his suspicions,
and if there was any reward money. Well,the next
thing you know the feds from Mexico City show
up with some FBI an Marshall guys and all hell
brakes loss.This prison brake,good luck, bad luck,
double pistola packing,yankee gringo,flying bandito,
bank robber had no idea who had turned him in.
He thought ol' Beto Bob was his buddy,and why not?
He had paid Beto well,drank his ron, (rum) and
thought they where both a couple of latter day
pirates,salty old dogs of the sea so to speak.

Next day as the feds are hustling this Bandito
Malo onto a plane, bound for years of boredom,
at the airport he stops to shake Betos hand
an whispers to him, a little to loud, that
the next time he's diving around 'That Place'
to look for a treasure. That's all the feds
were waiting to hear. They put the pressure
on Beto Bob to take them to 'THAT PLACE.'
Like a dumb shmuck pendejo Beto took them out
on his boat diving on 'That PLACE,' where they
found the stash. Over a hundered thousand
dollars, sealed up water tight, in one of
the old ship wrecks around Cozumel. The feds
from both countrys drank up all of Betos beer,
an liquor, trashed his boat, then left the
island the next day without paying. Beto
asked about the reward sevreal times and the
US consuilate always said they would let him
know, but they never did.

Word got around that the Mexico City feds got
the ten thousand reward. Beto didn't get anything,
nothing, not a hand shake nor a thank you card
from J.Edgar. Beto didn't even get paid for the
dive to recover the money, nada, zero, zit, ni
uno centavo. As Beto,Bob Marx,became more familiar
with law inforcment, espcially the jail part,
he would often be heared berating himself,
"He gave me a treasure and I gave it to him
in tha ass, then I got it in tha ass from those
double asshole humping feds. May the Gods that
be forgive me for turning him in. What a shmuck
pendejo I was." (pendejo means, dumb as a
pubic hair in the Caribi,if it's serious it's
your mothers pubic hair)

This was just some of our small talk as we broke
waves on the crystal turqouise caribbean sea.
Cubano had the boat on auto-pilot and was now
standing in the doorway of the cabin smoking a
cigarette.The moon wouldn't be up for another hour
so it was dark,but never real dark in the clear
Caribbean night with a west wind pushing a
tropical breeze while over head are heavenly
lanterns lighting dimly the night before us.
Looking out over the dark blue night the reflection
of stars danced off the waves like sparkling
angel-dust in a Disney movie.

Suddenly the boat dropped dead in the water from
lose of power.On instinct Juan an Cubano moved
into emergency mode. As Juan an I pulled the
sacks of oranges around so we could get to the
motor cover on deck, Cubano was checking the
stater switch and wiring in the cabin when
suddenly a light, so bright you could read the
fine print on a lawyers contract, came up under
the boat. I mean to tell you there was not a
shadow to be found, not inside the cabin where
Cubano was, nor outside where Juan an I stood
stunnd by what was taking place. This light was
under the boat,not over head, yet its glow was
all embracing.

"Submarino!" Juan said what we were all thinking.
Gripping the side of the boat I looked over the
side trying to judge how close the Submarine was
to us. What I saw was the ocean osculating like
the inside of a washing machine.I'll never forget
that light,and how it was under us yet it was
everywhere leaving no shadows. It really didn't
hurt my eyes, but I couldn't tell how deep or
how big it was, whatever it was. There were no
bubbles like you see when a submarine comes to
the surface in the movies.

As fast as it came, it was gone. The light
under us shot out like a torpedo from the
boat. Juan an I could see two lights now,
one on each side of the boat still in the
water. As the lights shot away from us they
never broke surface nor left any bubbles or
foam in their wake, of which there was none.
I yelled to Cabano in the wheel house, "Can
you see um Cubano there's two of them?" He
turned an looked back at us,"No, son tres,
uno es en la medea!" (There's three,ones in
the middle.) The lights, still under water,
were headed south the last we saw of them.
Out of sight in about 5-6 seconds. This whole
episode with the lights hadn't take more than
maybe twenty five seconds, or so we thought.

Cubano hit the starter and the motor kicked
in smooth as new. Under way again Juan an Cubano
excitedly began reciting story's of the lights
in the night sky's near Tulum,they both agreed
that nothing like this had ever happened to
either one of them, no one had ever been this
close to the lights.Juan explaned how Tio Manuel
Mendoza, in Punta Allen, had many story's about
night lights both in and out of the water.
Now the Cubano took his turn recalling his
sightings near Tulum, but never one like this
he said in conclusion. This being my first time
I had nothing to talk about,but I couldn't wait
until tomorrow so I could tell about this close
encounter to all the tourist at the Bali-Hi
restaurant. I'd tell my wife as soon as I got
home of course. Suddenly I felt tired,sleepy,
drained of energy, so I stretched out on top of
the oranges under the cover of the moon beaming
down from high above, in a few minutes I was asleep.

The people ferry pulls into the dock down town
Cozumel, but other boats go to Caleta, a south
port where commercial boats tie up. When our boat
bumped the dock Juan and I sat up. We were all
three feeling tired an groggy so we decided on
the spot to do everything monyona.To our surprize
there were no taxi's,no trucks, nobody but the
night watchman and he was asleep.Juan an I walked,
by the light of the moon, to the Presidente Hotel
an woke up a taxi driver. By the time I got home
I was so out of it I didn't even notice a man
leaving out the back door of my house as I came
in the front door. Dolores really did look
surprised to see me. "Oh honey, you really scared'
me." Indeed,she had broken out in a sweat,
but all I cared about at the time was sleep,
so I did.

Days in the Caribi come early. Breakfast was
fish,beans, rice and mixed fruit. Dolores 'said'
she had waited for me the night before at her
mothers house, but when I didn't show up on time
she figured we weren't coming until morning so
she went home to bed.I found out later,to late,
it was not to sleep. I didn't arrive home until
after one AM, it was the first time I had
ever been that late making an hour and a half
hour crossing from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel.
I didn't realize until later just how late.

Later that morning, at the docks in Caleta,
Cubano had already loaded my produce on a truck
and somehow I had lost one sack of oranges.
I pointed that out to the driver as I paid him
to deliver everything to the restaurant. As the
truck pulled out Cubano pulled me aside. "Pancho,
come with me, I have something I want you to see."
Cubano took me down below to the bilge where slush,
and gunk, mixed with sea water gathers. It was
unblievably clean.In the engine compartment
the motor was clean as new. "Don Pancho, because
the motor stopped working last night I checked it
this morning, and I can't believe what I see."
"Its bad?" I asked. "No Pancho, it's all like new!
the battary is charged it could explode, blow up!
'Another thing my cigarettes, coffee, an sugar, are
all gone."

We stood in the cabin mystified,then it suddenly
dawned us. 'The lights at night under the boat.'
I hadn't even thought about them after Juan an I
left the boat last night. No, by god it was this
morning. 'One AM' in the morning? Wait a minute,
if we left Playa del Carmen at six thirty, or seven,
on a one or two hour boat crossing then what the?
"Sometink no es bueno Don Pancho," was Cubanos
understatement.

There was something like 4-5 hours missing from
last night. Why didn't I think to tell Dolores
about the lights this morning at breakfast? It
was almost like it never happened, but it did,
didn't it? Cubano thought he had dreamt it.
Then we both recalled when Juan an I said there
were two lights moving out, that's when Cubano
had said "No, son tres Pancho, uno en la medea."
Slowly our recall of the lights at night came
back to us, but it came in small flashbacks, in
bits an pieces.

The same was true with Juan, at first he thought
he had dreamt it. Then, in flashbacks, togather
we tried to jolt our memorys of the night before.
Why were there no taxi's when we arrived last night?
It couldn't have been one o'clock in the morning
when we docked, but it was. The moon wasn't up
when we lift but when we docked it was over head,
no, no by god it was over head when I laid down
on the oranges after the lights under the boat.

It would have taken day's to clean the bilge an
motor, but never that clean, and the batterys?
You could jump start an electric chair with them
now. "Cigaros,coffee e asugar?" Cubano pondered.
The beer? Juan and I drank one a piece there should
be four left, if not then the cans? My missing sack
of oranges? As our story got around it set off a
chain reaction of storys. Everyone it seemed had
a sighting to talk about, if not their own sighting
then one that had been told to them by family or
friends. Our story was now added to the long list
in the chain letter of tails to be told when its
story telling time about the night lights of Tulum.

The Maya Gods of old built a wonderous place to
hang out while they were here. We won't go there
now, but when the Maya Gods left they left behind
for us a time table for their return. These
calculations are based on astrology and seem to
coincide with the Persian Magis predictions, and
many others. Notably the Bible,take your pick,
Nostarbamus, and the late Edgar Cayce. The year
is at hand 2012-13. No one said it was the end
of the world, only that 'I Shall Return.' And,
there will be a day of reckoning. When you take
a look at all that is being done with DNA these
day's it could be that we are carrying our
reckoning sheets around with us. Something to
think about as we go about our daily routine.

I lived twenty five years in the Caribi hearing
these tails of incounters. Many of them witnessed
by two or more people, up to whole family's an
villages. In Punta Allen, south of Tulum, where our
Tio Manuel Mendoza lived out his life as lighthouse
keeper, you could sit until the Ron a.k.a. Rum, runs
dry and never hear the same story twice about UFO's.
And most would be first hand accounts with a few
sightings in the water. Tio Manuel over the years
began to notice a pattern in the times some of these
sightings would take place. Tio would take me to the
lighthouse so I could watch the night lights as they
waltz across the heavens at night. I've seen so many
UFOs now that I've lost count. All but one,in Texas,
were in Mexico, but by fare there are more sightings
in Punta Allen both in an out of the water than any
place I have ever found, or heard of.

Tio Manuel an I became experts at spotting the true
UFOs from phony sightings like airplane lights at
night, airplanes without lights are smugglers, birds
migrating at night can fool you too. Tio an I
discovered one regular night light at Tulum that I
personally used to play tricks on the tourist and
friends.

First, you start with story's of UFOs about an hour
before the false sighting begins. Story's will get
people looking around the heavens as the time draws
near for the sighting. Then, suddenly, on the horizon
there appears what looks like a star, but it's moving.
Not really fast at first, but as we look on amazed
the star slowly picks up speed coming right at us.
By the time the light reach's us it is now a full
fledged UFO and its moveing overhead at exactley
17,500 mph. Que paso? you ask. (what's happening)
How do I know its going exactly that fast? Its a
satellite that's how. As you first see the satellite
on the horizon it appears to be moving slow but as
it draws near the speed appears to increase. By the
time it arcs overhead you can see how fast the
sattelite is really moving. Everyone is so thrilled
to have seen a UFO, or 'Night Light Of Tulum,'
that they are now dancing with the excitement.

There are 'true' sightings to be seen both in and
out of the water between Xcaret, Tulum & Punta Allen.
On the days of the equinox are your best chance for
a sighting. Like I said about the ancient Maya alarm
clock? the Gods are due too return soon, how soon?
In the year 2012-13 and the Maya clock is ticking.

P.S.
(Anytime you want to see a true sighting just
look me up, and I hope you like lobster.)

Contributed by:
T.F. Shirley
©2000 T.F.Shirley
Email: panchofrijoles@hotmail.com