Virgilio Sanchez-Ocejo

Early Life and First Sighting

Virgilio Sanchez-Ocejo was born in Havana, Cuba, and first witnessed a UFO in 1956 while studying law at the University of Havana. This sighting sparked a lifelong dedication to UFO research and investigation. In 1960, following Fidel Castro's rise to power in Cuba, Sanchez-Ocejo emigrated to the United States. Three years later, in 1963, he voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. Army as part of a special program for Cuban immigrants.

Miami UFO Research Foundation

Based in Miami, Sanchez-Ocejo became a central figure in documenting UFO sightings within the Cuban-American community. For over two years, he hosted a local Miami radio program titled "LOOKING FOR A RESPONSE," which collected detailed reports of UFO sightings from Cuban immigrants—a demographic with significant eyewitness accounts of aerial phenomena that had gone largely undocumented in English-language UFO historiography. This grassroots approach to data collection represented an underappreciated bridge between Spanish and English UFO research traditions.

In 1976, Sanchez-Ocejo formalized his efforts by founding the Miami UFO Center, a non-profit organization officially registered with the State of Florida. The Center became a repository for sighting reports, witness interviews, and investigative documentation focused on southeastern U.S. and Caribbean UFO activity. He simultaneously served as Special Representative for South America for M.U.F.O.N. (Mutual UFO Network), and held membership in A.P.R.O. (Aerial Phenomena Research Organization), the National Investigation Committee, and N.I.C.A.P.

International Collaboration and Field Research

Sanchez-Ocejo traveled extensively through South America in collaboration with pioneering ufologist J. Allen Hynek, whose transition from Project Blue Book skeptic to scientific UFO advocate influenced contemporary research methodologies. This partnership positioned Sanchez-Ocejo as a key investigator bridging U.S. institutional UFO research with Latin American field observations.

Published Works

Sanchez-Ocejo authored multiple books advancing UFO research:

• "UFO. Contact from Undersea" (1982), published by researcher Wendelle C. Stevens, focusing on submerged craft accounts and aquatic UFO phenomena
• "Danger in Our Conscience" (CD book, 2000)
• "OVNIs: Lo fisico y psiquico del fenomeno" (Spanish language edition, exploring physical and psychological dimensions of UFO phenomena)
• "UFO Pets" (later edition, investigating animal behavior anomalies associated with UFO sightings)
• "UFO Abduction from Undersea: Physical Examination by Alien Beings of Two Abductees in Oceanographic Labs" (with Wendelle C. Stevens)

His body of work emphasizes aquatic and underwater UFO activity—a niche focus that remains underdeveloped in mainstream UFO literature.

Media and Documentary Work

Beginning in 2006, Sanchez-Ocejo served as associate producer and consultant for multiple television documentaries translated into multiple languages, including:

• "A Search for Chupacabras" (BNN TV, Netherlands)
• "Chupacabras" (Animal Planet)
• "It Is Real? Chupacabras" (National Geographic)
• "The Strangest UFO Stories of All Times: Alien Vampire Chronicles" (Discovery Channel and Science Channel)

These productions expanded his reach beyond academic and research circles into mainstream media, though often framed within cryptozoology rather than pure UFO research.

Significance

Sanchez-Ocejo remains one of the few prominent UFO researchers who systematically documented Spanish-language and Latin American perspectives on the UFO phenomenon—a tradition historically marginalized in English-language UFO historiography dominated by North American and European researchers. His methodical radio-based data collection from immigrant communities and establishment of an institutional research center (Miami UFO Center) represent a model for grassroots, community-centered UFO investigation often overlooked by more academically oriented researchers. His emphasis on aquatic UFO phenomena and his collaboration with Hynek contributed to broadening the geographic and phenomenological scope of UFO research beyond the standard aerial sighting paradigm.