Sighting record / 1995

The Tigre Outpost Shooting: Col. Eustorgio Pacheco Fires at a Descending Light

1995 · Tigre military outpost (destacamento Tigre), Loja Province, on the Peruvian border; a 2003 version places it at El Tigre in the Oriente, Ecuador

17Thinly documented UAP Orb / light 11 sources 6 videos

1995. The Tigre military outpost, on Ecuador's border with Peru. About three in the morning. Eustorgio Pacheco, named in the reports as a colonel, was on night guard when a round light began to come down toward him. He called to his companions. They stayed in their tents, afraid. The light kept getting closer. So he fired his rifle at it. The light rose quickly and hid in the clouds. The account surfaced in the files of CEIFO, the commission ufologist Jaime Rodríguez ran in Ecuador from 2005 to 2007. But an older telling, from 2003, is bigger. 40 soldiers. A saucer on a jungle helipad. Shots fired as it lifted away.

▶ Narrate · Pro

Key facts

When	1995
Time of day	about 3 a.m.
Where	Tigre military outpost (destacamento Tigre), Loja Province, on the Peruvian border; a 2003 version places it at El Tigre in the Oriente,Ecuador
Duration	not recorded
Witnesses	1
Witness roles	military
Found
Evidence	none confirmed
Investigations	CEIFO (Comisión Ecuatoriana para la Investigación del Fenómeno Ovni)
Status	disputed

The object

A round light that began to descend toward the guard's position and kept getting closer. After he fired his rifle at it, it rose quickly and hid in the clouds. In the 2003 version, a saucer that came down on the outpost's jungle helipad and lifted away after soldiers shot at it.

Lights	1 light, single light
Motion	vertical climb or drop, high speed
Weather	cloudy

Context

Ecuador has its own official UFO chapter. On 21 February 2003, ufologist Jaime Rodríguez handed presidential secretary Óscar Ayerve a draft decree for a "Comisión Ecuatoriana para la Investigación del Fenómeno Ovni". Two years later it existed. Known as CEIFO, it was set up in 2005 under the authorisation of President Lucio Gutiérrez, with Rodríguez as director. Its first 44 cases involved personnel from all three branches of the armed forces. One of them came from a border post called Tigre.

Sources (11, most influential first)

Avistamientos OVNI en Ecuador: Ministerio de Defensa, evidencias · Extra· 2025-03-19 · Press, book, documentary · news
OVNIs en Ecuador: registros oficiales, testigos militares revelan encuentros · Expreso· 2025-03-19 · Press, book, documentary · news
Enigmas de Ecuador: evidencias de avistamientos ovnis · Extra· 2023-08-02 · Press, book, documentary · news
Gobierno recibió proyecto de ufólogo · El Universo· 2003-02-21 · Academic / paper of record · news
El ufólogo Jaime Rodríguez dice que en Ecuador ha conocido de al menos 44 casos de avistamientos de ovnis · El Universo· 2023-07-28 · Academic / paper of record · news